What Happens Now?
by Singer of Water
Summary: Book four of the Winter series. It's been four months since Ultron's attack. Since then the Avengers have grown in numbers. Tracey has been working nonstop to help fix the damage the crazed robot did to the team's database and in just a month her and Bucky will be married. But happy endings don't always happen for those who work with the Avengers.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

The scenery blurred passed, a mix of colors. They were racing through the streets. Their hammering hearts matched the speed they were going as they veered in and out of traffic. The engine of the bike roaring every now and then as they sped up. Passing people they were met with shouts of complaints and insults in a language they didn't know. They paid no attention to them. That is until gunfire was heard and their shouting turned to screams of terror as they all rushed to get to cover. That was when they knew they had to get out of the vicinity soon or there would be casualties.

A growl escaped his lips as they slowed down slightly at the congested traffic ahead. His eyes snapped from side to side as he looked for an exit; they landed on a narrow path between two lanes. It would have to do. Accelerating, the bike squeezed past cars with horns honking at them and heads turning towards them only to duck back into their cars as bullets whizzed by followed by another motorbike.

"Keep down!" he shouted at the person behind him. His brow furrowed as his eyes set onto the route to their side. He veered left sharply earning the arms around him to tighten their hold.

"We need to get away from these people," the female behind him said.

"No shit," he grunted as he quickly turned away from a pedestrian that nearly met the fate of colliding with a large metal bike. "Damn it!" he cursed when he saw the oncoming traffic light change to red. "Think you can do anything about that?" he asked.

"I'll see what I can do," his partner replied as she pulled out a small handheld device from a pocket attached at her thigh. "Give me a few seconds," she said, keeping her grip on his waist with one arm as she used her free hand to type something into the device.

"I don't think we have a few seconds," he shouted.

"Hang on!" she retaliated.

He grit his teeth as they were gradually reaching the light and traffic. "Anytime now, Trace!" he yelled at the woman.

"Go!" she yelled back, pocketing the device and gripping the man in front of her in a vice. She peeked over his shoulder, eyes growing wide as they rushed passed cars, some that had the unfortunate result of colliding into each other at the sudden change of lights. Peering behind them she watched as the lights changed back and the man on the motorcycle chasing them was met with an untimely end as a car collided with him.

"Took you long enough," the man in front of her quipped.

"Hey," she snapped, "how about next time I drive and you play around with the lights."

"I think we both know neither one of us could do the other's job," he said with a chuckle.

"That's what I thought," she said with an eye roll.

"Bucky, Tracey," Sam's voice called out in their ear pieces. "Did you get the information?"

"Yeah, we got Starks little files. Now he can go play mad scientist," Bucky replied.

A chuckle came from the other man. "Great, just what he loves. Where's your location?"

"We're on our way back to the quinjet," Tracey answered as Bucky steered the bike down another street.

"Perfect, see you two in a few," the newest Avenger replied.

The comm links went dead, leaving the two on the bike to make their way through the streets to the area the jet was hiding. All the while a pair of eyes following their moves.

"So all the stories about him were true," a female said into her phone as she casually strolled down the street, passing the crowds of huddled people as they looked on at the mess that was the intersection where the biker was hit by the car. "He's quite impressive. I can't believe I never got to see him back when he was being trained. I'm a little upset."

"Yeah, well as impressive as he might seem we need him with us," came a gruff voice on the other end of the phone. "We need to figure out our next move."

"Don't worry, babe, we'll get him. It will be fun playing around with him too," she said with glee in her voice and a twisted smile growing on her face.

"You'll get your chance to have some fun when we-"

"I know I know 'when we get him'. Don't worry, we will," she said tucking a strand of red hair behind her ear as she made her way down the street.

ooOOoo

"Uncle Bucky! Aunt Tracey! Uncle Sam!" a little voice called as the three named Avengers walked off the elevator to the top floor.

Bucky grinned when he saw Rose running up to them, her red hair in braided pigtails that bounced with each step she took. Bending down, he scooped her up, spinning her around before holding her to him. "Hey, munchkin. When did you get here?"

"About an hour ago," Clint said as he stood in the kitchen with a cup of coffee in his hand.

"Hey, Clint. How's the farm?" Sam greeted, patting the archer on the back as he grabbed himself a cup of coffee.

"Doing well, almost done with renovations," the archer replied as he took a sip of his beverage.

"He will never stop it seems. It's all he did while we were there,' Pietro said as he ran off the stairway and towards the others, Jeremy clinging to his back with a large grin.

"Again again!" the little boy cheered. "Uncle Sam! Uncle Bucky!" he shouted when his eyes landed on the two Avengers. He quickly squirmed his way off the speedster's back and scurried over to Sam where he threw his arms around the man's legs.

"Hey, buddy!" Sam greeted, picking him up. "How are you?"

"Great! Pietro is now my brother!" Jeremy cheered.

"And Wanda is my sister!" Rose cheered as Bucky set her on the ground where she began to jump up and down.

"Really?" Tracey said, looking over at Clint with a smile.

The bow and arrow wielding Avenger shrugged, a smirk on his face. "The two grew on me and Tasha and I agreed that we wanted them to have a family. Plus Jeremy and Rose were all for it."

"That's great!" Tracey said, her smile growing even more.

"Yes," Pietro said, running up to Clint and flinging an arm around his new dad's shoulders. "The old man is now my Papa."

"Don't make me regret adopting you, kid," Clint said with an eye roll.

"Aunt Tracey!" Rose said, grabbing and tugging on the blonde woman's hand. "Come play dress up with Wanda and I!"

"Okay, okay," the hacker laughed as she was pulled to the elevator by the little red headed girl. "See you guys later!"

"Yeah I'm gonna head over to the lab and hand this over to Tony," Sam said, waving a hand as he followed the two females to the elevator.

"So how'd the mission go?" Clint asked Bucky, taking yet another drink from his coffee.

"Went pretty smoothly," Bucky said, chuckling when he felt Jeremy grab his metal arm. "That is until we actually got the information. Once Trace extracted it from their computers a guy caught us so we had to book it out of there," he continued, lifting his arm up so Jeremy was dangling from it. "Guy chased us all through the streets."

"So no sightseeing?" Clint asked with a smirk.

"No," the soldier chuckled. "I'm sure Tracey's upset, but I've seen enough of Italy during the war. Maybe another time when we're not being shot at."

"That will be the day," the archer snorted into his cup.

"Yeah," Bucky laughed lightly. "Alright, I'm gonna meet up with Steve. I'll talk to you guys later."

ooOOoo

"Well," Steve laughed, shaking his head, "at least you're used to being shot at in Italy."

As soon as Bucky had left the top floor he made his way to his friend which F.R.I.D.A.Y. said he could be found on his floor. Which he was and left the metal armed man the time of wandering around the tower.

"Right, weren't you two in Italy back in the forties?" Sharon asked as she sat down next to Bucky at the counter.

"Yeah, we had some interesting times there," Steve said, running a hand through his hair.

"You mean like running for our lives through Schmidt's and Zola's hideout?" Bucky mumbled, his mouth setting into a firm line.

"Buck…" Steve said, calling his friend out of his thoughts. He stared at the dark haired man, worry spreading across his face. He was in one of his moods again. Lately Bucky had been staring off into space, almost like when he first came to the tower during his recovery. It made Steve worry. "You okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," Bucky said, running a hand down his face. "Just tired is all."

"What's wrong, Bucky?" Steve pushed, raising a brow at his friend.

Sharon looked from one man to the next before standing up from her seat. "I'll let you two talk and go see if Maria needs help with anything. Bye, guys."

Bucky stared at his hands, pursing his lips. He could sense Steve's gaze on him. It only made him more on edge. Quickly he stood up, scraping the legs of his chair across the floor. "I'll see you later, Steve. I just need to get some sleep."

He brushed past his friend as Steve tried to reach out to him and hustled onto the elevator. There was no way he was going to tell Steve. He didn't want to worry him. He was just going to deal with this by himself. Steve and everyone else had done enough before, he didn't want to put them through anything.

He sighed as he entered his and Tracey's floor. He just wanted to get to his bed and sleep. Maybe sleeping would help him forget. Not really forget, just get his mind off of it. Just the memory of what happened with Zola all those years again brought back all those painful memories. Memories of what he went through before Steve found him. Memories of falling off that train. Memories of all the blood he had on his hands all because he killed hundreds of people. He took so many lives without even being fully in control and yet it was at his hands they died.

His fist shot out, slamming into the wall next to him.

"Bucky?" came a female's surprised voice.

His head whipped up to see her staring at him with wide eyes. She was standing in the kitchen, clutching a knife in her hands as she stood over a plate of food. His eyes zeroed in on the weapon in her hand, calculating her next move.

"Попробуйте что-нибудь и я буду атаковать," he growled out.

"Bucky!" she exclaimed, taking a step forward. "Bucky, snap out of it!"

He blinked, eyes flickering around and taking in his surroundings before they landed on Tracey. His eyes widened when he saw the look of fear mixed with worry on her face. Shit. Did it happen again?

"Bucky?" the blonde said calmly. "Are you okay? Talk to me."

"I'm fine," he mumbled before stalking off to their room. He couldn't believe that happened. He was doing well! It had been months, nearly a year since his last relapse! What could have- Wanda… It was back when she and Pietro attacked the team. When she played her mind games with everyone. That was around the time the relapses started back up. Her showing him his fears, his fears of what he could do, the monster he could be and was, those visions had to have triggered them.

Now what was he going to do? He could fight them. But how well could he do that? Would he hurt anyone next time? He sighed as he shut the door. Only time could tell.

Tracey's eyes followed him, watching as he angrily and somewhat sluggishly walked down the hall. What happened? She hadn't seen him like that in a long time. Her eyes traveled to the wall where a large hole was left by his fist. He was definitely far from fine.

 **Well here's the fourth installment to the Winter series. I am honestly REALLY excited about this one. I have a good bit planned out - I've actually had most of the plot planned out for months - and I'm really excited about it. I'm also excited to bring in the villains I have in mind. I hope people will know who one of them is because I just found her over the summer and fell in love with her. I have never read the comics, but reading her wiki page I knew she'd be great for this story. Plus her character is really cool! So if you can guess who the mystery man and woman is I hope you like their addition to the story.**

 **I honestly didn't think I would get this story up so quickly especially after just finish Everything is Going to Be Okay, but I'm really really excited for this story and I hope you all enjoy it.**

 **I'd LOVE to hear what you all think so please leave a review. I'd love any opinions and advice!**

 **And feel free to check out my tumblr at winter-is-ending where you can ask the Avengers any questions you'd like or just see all the Marvel posts I reblog.**

 **Translation: Try anything and I will attack.**


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Sunlight seeped through the blinds and onto her eyes. Squinting and throwing an arm over her face she rolled over, curling up into herself. It was getting colder out, they were going to have to put the heat on soon. Looking through slanted eyes she stared at the large body that laid next to her. She scooted over to him, curling herself into him and laying her head against his chest. A metal arm wrapped around her waist and a face buried itself into her hair bringing a smile onto the woman's face.

"Morning, Sergeant," she said through a yawn.

"Morning, doll," Bucky mumbled into her hair.

Tracey stayed silent, laying her head against the soldier's chest, staring at the ceiling. All day yesterday she was worried about her fiancé. After the incident in the kitchen Bucky had never left their room leaving the entire floor uncomfortably quiet for the hacker's liking. There were moments where she almost went to him and check up on him, make sure everything was okay. However, just the fact he never showed his face not even when she knocked on the door to let him know dinner was ready told her that he just wanted to be by himself. Even now, how he was holding her was more like he was curling in on himself – closing himself off and yet holding onto reality.

"How are you feeling?" she asked cautiously.

By the stiffened muscles of the soldier the blonde woman could tell it was still a sore subject. She didn't think she'd get a response, but it was worthy trying.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"No," came the mumbled reply before he let go of her and rolled onto his other side, his back now facing her.

Tracey sat up on her elbows and stared at Bucky, chewing her cheek as her brow furrowed. "Bucky," she said softly, but she didn't get another word out when Dexter and Aleu jumped onto the bed, licking their masters' faces and begging for food. Tracey smiled lightly at the two before climbing out of bed and leaving Bucky to follow after her to start the day.

ooOOoo

The cold wind whipped and swirled around him, tossing his hair and clothes every which way. He pulled his jacket tighter around himself as he stared down at the New York traffic down below. Sitting on the roof of the Avengers' tower seemed to calm him during his recovery and as of late. He didn't know why, but it made him feel more in control. Being above everything, looking down on everyone and watching what they did. It made him feel like he could watch the progress of someone – of everyone. He could watch someone go from their apartment to the office, a woman dropping her toddler at daycare before heading to the grocery store, and a student rushing to his next class. He could watch everyone and all the things they did, just as Hydra had done with him.

Hydra, where he was tortured, memory erased of all the things he cared about. Hydra, where they trained him to become a weapon. To become a monster to use at their beck and call. A monster who killed everyone and anyone, whether they were a target or just got in the way. Every mission lead to death. The death of innocent people – maybe some weren't as innocent as others, but it still left a horrible feeling in the soldier's stomach just thinking about it. It was at his hands they were all dead. It was his hands that caused their death. His hands that were covered in their blood…

He shook his head, trying desperately to get the distressing thoughts out of his head. He looked up at the sky, watching as grey clouds slowly moved across the sky. The weather was getting colder as winter was approaching.

He sighed, running a hand through his hair. What he wouldn't give to forget. No, not forget everything, just the memories that kept him tossing and turning on some nights.

"I thought I'd find you up here."

Bucky didn't even have to look up to know Steve was walking towards him. He didn't have to turn and look at him when he sat down on the edge of the roof with him, he saw the blond soldier do it all in his peripheral. He didn't say anything to him, just stared out at the horizon of buildings in front of him. It was silent between them, neither making the move to speak up. They just sat there in the cold wind, staring out at the world.

"There were times where he was grateful for his best friend. Steve always knew when things were wrong, that's just how he and Steve worked. They sensed when the other was troubled.

"Do you want to talk about what's bothering you?" Steve asked, finally breaking the silence.

There it was. Bucky was waiting for him to ask to talk. But what could he even talk about?

' _I've been relapsing again after all the work we went through and I don't know how many more times it will happen. And now I have to fight them off again without hurting you or anyone else.' yeah that would go over well._ Bucky thought. He sighed. "I don't know what you're talking about. I'm fine."

"Buck, I can tell that's a load of shit," the blond soldier said, giving his friend a stern look. "Bucky," he said with a soft sigh, "you can talk to me about anything. We've both been through a lot, you know I'll understand."

 _Will you?_ the metal armed soldier thought. He sighed again. Maybe telling someone would get it off his shoulders. But what will Steve think? Would he be disappointed that he's relapsing again? He ran his flesh hand through his hair. There was only one way to find out how his best friend would react really. "I've uh-"

"Captain Rogers. Sergeant Barnes," came the gentle, but urgent voice of FRIDAY through a speaker that was God knows where on the roof. "There's a disturbance over on Madison. Your assistance is required."

Steve clapped a hand on Bucky's shoulder before he stood up. "I don't think anyone else is here, but Tracey, so let's get her and head out, alright?"

"Yeah," the other super soldier agreed, following the star spangled man to the elevator.

ooOOoo

The streets were in chaos. Everywhere Steve, Bucky, and Tracey looked people were shoving and pushing their way past each other just to get to safety first. They were like ants running around after their hill was destroyed. This just made it harder for the three to reach their destination. Whoever was causing all this commotion was doing a great job that was for sure. Bullets flew all around. Screams from civilians were filling the air. It was almost a war zone. Almost. All that was needed were armies fighting it out against each other.

"Who could be causing this?" Tracey asked, stepping to the side as someone tried to push her out of the way.

"Not sure, but we need to find out fast before anyone gets hurt," Steve said, scanning the sea of people for any sign of the source for the chaos. "There!" he said, pointing to a spot ways down the street. On the corner of a building stood a man dressed up in some sort of armor. On his head he wore a helmet with an oddly shaped skull painted on it that matched the look of the rest of his uniform. "Bucky!" Steve called. "You take him from behind and make sure no civilians are caught in the crossfire. Tracey, help those who are staggering behind get to safety. Our main priority is to get innocents from harm."

"Right," Bucky mumbled in reply before racing down the street to where the man was located. In the corner of his eyes he could see Tracey ushering people from a building into the subway. There would be less damage, let alone action, there to harm the civilians. He quickly turned his eyes onto his target and a glare set on his face. There he was, right in range. He could pull the trigger and end this mess. But then they wouldn't find out who he was, let alone why he was causing all this. _Then again what plausible reason do any of the goons we fight have to cause destruction?_ he thought, rolling his eyes.

The man's head turned to where Steve was running at him, shield ready to be thrown. However, the man's gun was up and shooting bullets at the soldier before he could attack, instead Steve just used the shield to take cover from the bullets. In seconds he was in front of the man and throwing punches and kicks. It soon became less of a weapons fight and more of hand to hand.

With a quick punch to the jaw, the man was able to knock Steve off him for a moment. "Sorry, Cap, but this time it's a little personal," he finally spoke.

Taken off guard, Steve blinked, trying to register what the man just said. "Nothing personal" rain in his head over and over again. He had heard it somewhere before – years ago. "Rumlow," he said slowly, realization dawning on him.

"Aw you do remember me," Rumlow replied, placing a hand over his heart. "That means so much. Although it's Crossbones now," he said, throwing another punch towards Captain America only to have it blocked. Thus the fight started up once more.

Bucky froze where he stood. He just stared at the back of the man's head. It was Rumlow. It was one of the handlers he had when he was the Winter Soldier. One of the men who caused the pain he felt during his time with Hydra. One of the men who sat there while he was tortured and had his memory wiped. After the incident in DC no one had heard or seen any news on Rumlow. After Sam had fought him in the S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters right before the building was taken down by a helicarrier everyone assumed the man was caught in the mess. No news of a body was found, so everyone assumed he was dead. Bucky thought everyone he hated the most in Hydra were dead. Turns out he were wrong.

As the soldier raised his gun, aiming for Rumlow as the man was fighting Steve off, rage flooded Bucky. He was close. So close to getting rid of one more person from his past in Hydra. But before he could even pull the trigger he watched as the man knocked Steve away. In a split second the Hydra agent had a gun pointing at Bucky.

"Well if it isn't the Asset," the enemy spoke. "I was wondering when I'd run into you again."

Bucky went rigid. That name. The other name that he was called while with Hydra. He never thought he'd hear it again and hearing it now made him want to explode. He never wanted to be called that again.

A snarl grew on the dark haired soldier's face. "I'm not him anymore, Rumlow," he hissed. "I'm not your puppet anymore."

"Oh I know that," Rumlow replied. "You're an Avenger now," he said, speaking the name of the group of heroes as if it left a bad taste in his mouth. "Too bad. You were such a great weapon for Hydra."

"Shut up," Bucky growled.

"How much do you little friends know about your past with Hydra anyways?" Rumlow continued. Bucky could just picture a smirk growing on his face under that dumb helmet of his at the metal armed man's rising anger.

"Shut up," Bucky repeated, his voice getting louder.

"Have you hurt them while recovering? I'm sure it probably took a long time to get those memories back," the man taunted.

"Shut up," he said once again. And just like last time, his voice grew louder.

The smirk returned to Rumlow as he stared at Bucky. His eyes shifted to the left and spotted Tracey, who was still leading people to safety. "And what about her? She's pretty isn't she?" A malicious grin grew under the painted helmet when he saw the growl forming on Bucky's face. "Does she know what you've done? Have you hurt her yet? I can only imagine how scared she'd be of you if you attacked her." When he noticed the rigid stance the soldier took he couldn't help but laugh. "You have attacked her, haven't you? Looks like old habits really are hard to break."

"Shut the hell up!" Bucky screamed. He dropped his gun and quickly pulled out one of his knives before charging towards the man in front of him. He needed to shut up. He needed to die! There was no way in hell he was going to interfere with his life now. He had done enough when he was the Winter Soldier. He wasn't going to have him ruin everything now.

The Hydra agent quickly blocked Bucky's attack, the grin still on his face. "Did I strike a nerve?" he asked, throwing a punch. "Does your new family not know everything you did? What would they think of you then?"

"Shut the hell up!" the super soldier roared, swinging his knife down at the man. He felt the blade slice against something. He didn't know. He didn't care at the moment.

Looking down at his arm, Rumlow found that it had a gash across it. The soldier's knife had hit him on the last attack. His glare grew when he shifted his eyes up to meet the soldier's. "You've pissed me off now."

"Good," Bucky retaliated his voice growing low.

"As much as I love this reunion, I need you out of the way," he said. "At least for now."

Before Bucky could react, Rumlow had pulled out a remote and in a split second pressed a single button. The building behind them blew up, causing the dark haired super soldier to turn his attention away from the enemy in front of him. Bucky's eyes widened as he watched large chunks of debris falling towards him. He made a break for it only to soon find the chunks of debris landing around and on top of him.

ooOOoo

"Everyone please hurry up and get down there," Tracey shouted as she waved everyone down the subway stairs.

She looked around at the scene around her. Everywhere she looked, she saw people still running to safety. A few buildings were falling apart from the destruction of the fight. The fighters themselves were running every which way trying to take out one another. She saw Steve attacking the masked man, the super soldier throwing his shield every now and then mixed with punches and kicks. Bucky on the other hand was making his way to behind the enemy.

The blonde took a deep breath, watching her fiancé before bringing her attention back to the crowd of civilians. It took two more waves of people coming through before a large explosion happened a couple yards away from her and the people. Screaming filled her ears as she tried to assess what was happening. A gasp escaped her when she saw Bucky standing below the building that had exploded. Debris was falling down towards him. She tried to run towards him, shout out to him, but she was too late. She watched as Bucky was buried under the debris.

"Bucky!" she yelled. She ran over, eyes glaring at the man that stood in front of the rubble.

She saw the man standing there, a smirk on his face as he stared at the spot where Bucky laid, buried under the chunks of building. The blonde quickly, and quietly as she could, approached the man from behind. Pulling out her gun, careful to still not make a sound, she got ready to take the man down if she needed to.

"That was a little easy," she heard him say. "I was hoping for a better fight than that, Winte-"

The dark haired man seized before falling to the ground. Tracey stood there, holding her gun up and glaring at him, her eyes quickly shifting to the pile of debris that covered the super soldier.

"Bucky?" she called out, searching as much as she could move in the debris. "Bucky!" She began to panic. He wasn't responding. "Steve!" she yelled, looking all around for the blond haired soldier.

"Shit," Steve breathed. "Hang on," he said before pulling as many chunks of debris as he could.

Tracey dug, holding her breath as she searched for any sign of Bucky. He never went down without a fight. That was Bucky. No matter who it was, especially Hydra, he never went down without stopping the enemy.

Her face lit up moments later when she heard Steve. Looking over she saw him dragging out an unconscious Bucky. She let out a relieved sigh before rushing over to the two, quickly kneeling down next to the metal armed soldier.

"Bucky?" she asked as she pulled his head onto her lap. "Bucky… Come on, wake up," she said, running her hand through his hair. "Come on…"

A groan was heard from the soldier as he shifted slightly. His eyes slowly opened and blue eyes met brown eyes. "Hey, doll," he said, smiling lightly up at her. His brow furrowed a moment later. "Where's Rumlow?" he asked, bolting up. He winced in pain, grabbing his head.

"Bucky, don't move too quickly," Tracey reprimanded. "You were just buried under a building!"

"I'm fine," he ground out. "Where's Rumlow?"

"Tracey took care of him," Steve said, gesturing to the spot where the unconscious man lay. "He's righ- Shit!"

"Language," Bucky said, giving his friend a smirk.

"Not now, Buck," the captain said, glaring at him. "Rumlow is gone."

"What?" the hacker exclaimed. "But I knocked him out with an I.C.E.R."

"Doesn't matter," Bucky said, standing up and wincing once more. This time clutching his side. "We need to find him."

"Calm down, Buck. You can't go out looking for him in your condition," Steve stated, grabbing his friend's arm.

"I don't care. We need to get him!" he yelled.

"Bucky, please, you need to get yourself checked out by a doctor," the blonde woman said, glaring at him as he struggled against Steve's grip.

The soldier looked at one person to the next before sighing with his brow furrowed.. "Fine."

"Good," Steve said, releasing his hold on him. "Trace, take Bucky to the tower and I'll get the civilians out from the subway and anyone else who got caught up in this mess," he instructed.

"Got it," she replied, helping Bucky as they walked down the street. It was silent for a while, Bucky leaning against her and holding his head. "Bucky, what happened back there? What did that man say?"

He didn't answer, only stared straight ahead. "Why do you ask that?" he asked a moment later.

"Because of how determined you were at finding him. He had to have said something to you to get you riled up like that."

The soldier sighed, debating whether to tell her. Tracey is his wife, she knew everything about him. He might as well tell her. He sighed once more before opening his mouth. "He was just talking about my past as the Winter Soldier and kept taunting me about whether everyone knew everything that I did back then…"

"Oh, sweetie," she sighed. "Ignore him. Everyone knows about you as the Winter Soldier. And even then it doesn't matter. What you did back then doesn't matter, it's all in the past," she said, grabbing his hand. She stared up at him, giving him a small smile. "What you do now defines you."

Bucky looked down at her, squeezing her hand and giving her a smile. "Thank you, darling," he said, kissing her temple.

"No problem, Sergeant," she said smiling a little brighter. "Let's hurry up and get you to the tower right now and see if we can get someone to check you out."

"Yeah," Bucky said, holding his throbbing head. "Remind me to never take a building full on."

Tracey laughed, shaking her head. "I don't have any plans on letting you after today."

ooOOoo

"Did you have fun?" the female asked as Crossbones entered the building.

"Loads," the man replied, chuckling lightly. "Bringing up the past bugs the shit out of him."

"Good," the woman said, crossing the room and over to him and leaned against the table he sat at. "It'll help us get him off guard the next time we see him. But I'm still hoping for a little bit of action next time."

"Don't worry, babe," Crossbones laughed. "You'll get it. We've got him where we want him."

 **If anyone noticed yes the part with Rumlow and Bucky trapped under the debris was a chapter from Life at the Tower, but when I was rereading some things from that, I realized that it would fit so much better in this story so here it is! And I'll just be repeating the thank yous from when I wrote it for Life at the Tower so thank you to herebesparrows (tumblr)/JustALittleBirdy (fanfiction) for the prompt and the anon for the second prompt. I decided to combine the two prompts given and created this! I hope you like it!**

 **If you have any questions for the Avengers and Madison twins, feel free to send them over to my tumblr. If you have any prompts (AU or non-AU), send them to my tumblr, PM me here, or leave them in a review.**

 **My tumblr is winter-is-ending**

 **I hope you enjoyed the chapter and I'd LOVE to hear what you think so leave a review! If anyone has caught on as to who the woman with Crossbones is I'd love to hear who you think it is.**

 **And Happy New Year to you all!**


	3. Chapter 3

Walking out of the bedroom he stretched his flesh arm over his head. He finally got a good night's sleep for once in the past week since the last relapse. Every night since then his mind had been swirling with thoughts. Thoughts of when the next relapse would happen. Who would be there when it happened? Would he hurt them? And so many more questions buzzed around his head every night. It drove him insane, eventually ending up walking around the floor or heading up to the roof so he wouldn't wake up Tracey.

Speaking of Tracey…

The blonde woman was currently sitting at the kitchen counter with a cup of tea next to her laptop that she was currently working on as per usual. What caught his attention though was what she was wearing. Besides her usual messy bun, glasses instead of contacts, and sweatpants get up that she always had on when she was working in the morning she was wearing a jacket. The Winter Soldier jacket that she bought last year as a joke to him.

He had rolled his eyes at the sight of the jacket when she first bought it, but truthfully he loved that there was a jacket, a bear, and whatever other merchandise there was that was based off of him. It made him feel like a hero like Steve and Tony and everyone else who had the merchandise that cluttered stores and made little kids smile like it was Christmas.

He smiled and made his way over to her, wrapping his arms once he was behind her. "Morning, doll," he said, placing a kiss on top of her head.

"Morning, Sergeant," Tracey said, looking up at him with a warm smile. "You slept in later than I did. It's a miracle."

"What's a miracle is the day _you_ don't sleep in," he teased, grinning down at her. He chuckled as she smacked his arm. "So what are you working on? More Ultron stuff?"

"No, I decided to take a break from that."

"It's a miracle!"

"Oh shut up," she said, rolling her eyes as the soldier rested his chin on her head. "I'm looking for places to go for our honeymoon. Do you have any place you'd like to go?"

"Anywhere that gets me away from everyone from this tower and with you is fine by me," he said, rocking them back and forth. "Where do you want to go?"

"I've always wanted to go to Hawaii," Tracey said, chewing her lip as she clicked on a tab on the screen. Pictures of the islands appeared, showing off the different views and beaches.

"But we've been to Hawaii," Bucky pointed out.

"That was on a mission and we were being shot at," Tracey countered. "That's not exactly the trip to Hawaii I was hoping for." She clicked on another tab. "Or we could go to Bora Bora."

"You know," the metal armed man said, staring down at his fiancé, "we probably should have pick a location before now. The wedding is in two weeks."

Tracey chewed her cheek, nodding her head. "You're right. Who knows if anything even has a spot open for us."

"Well we have Tony's jet so we don't have to worry about plane tickets," the soldier said, letting her go and taking the seat next to her. "And if anything he probably has some sort of influence on something and can get us a hotel."

"So exploit Tony's fame to our advantage? You know, you could probably do that as well, seeing as you're Bucky Barnes and an Avenger."

"There's that too," he chuckled.

He smiled lightly, enjoying this moment. He had been in a foul mood since the relapse. He finally felt better after it, even though the worry of when the next one would happen was still haunting him. But this moment with Tracey was calming. It was peaceful to him. It made him feel normal to an extent. Just spending time with Tracey and going over plans for their wedding, something they were both looking forward to.

However, he still needed to tell someone about the relapses. Most likely Steve. He didn't want to worry Tracey while they were finishing up the wedding plans. He'd have to tell Steve later today.

"Are you feeling better?" Tracey's voice broke the soldier's thoughts.

"Huh?"

"Are you feeling better? The past few days you seemed to be on edge. I've been a little worried," Tracey admitted. She reached out and took his flesh hand in hers, giving it a light squeeze. "If you don't want to talk about it I understand, but I'm always here if you do."

The super soldier smiled at the blonde, leaning forward and placing a light kiss on her lips. "I'm feeling better, Trace, don't worry." He wanted to tell her, he did, but he didn't want to add more worries onto her shoulders now.

"Alright," she said, turning back to the computer. "I also noticed that your hair is growing out."

"Oh, uh…" He hadn't thought about that really, but she was right, his hair was growing out. It was at his ears now. A little past the tips actually. He hadn't noticed. That wasn't exactly something he intended to happen. He never liked his hair long. It reminded him too much of when he was the Winter Soldier. He guessed he just didn't have time to go get it cut. That and it never really came to mind during the day. "Yeah, it just slipped my mind. I'll probably get it cut in a few days or so. Whenever I find the time, I guess."

Tracey smiled up at him, running a hand through his hair. "Whatever you want to do, I won't mind. If you grow it out it means I'll get to braid it again," she said with a grin and a giggle.

"Oh that will be fun," the soldier laughed, rolling his eyes.

"Bucky? Tracey?" came an accented voice through the door that led to the elevator hallway. The voice was followed with a knock.

"Come in!" Tracey called out.

Wanda walked through, dressed in her Scarlet Witch uniform. She gave a small smile to the couple as she walked up to them. "Sam wanted to know if you two wanted to come with us to meet up with Barry and Steve at the base."

"Sure," the hacker answered with a small smile. "Just let us get our things and we'll meet you at the hangar."

Wanda nodded and left the two.

"Let's get going," Tracey said, gathering her things up from the counter.

"Yeah," Bucky said, following her into their room. At least he'd be able to talk to Steve sooner than he expected.

ooOOoo

"So what's the deal with Bucky lately?" Sam asked as Tracey messed around with some controls in one of the controls.

Currently she, Barry, Sam, and Wanda were in one of the control rooms at the new base. There they were able to check up on all the cameras that were located all around the area and check for any disturbances on any of the radars. Tracey was teaching one of the newest agents how to work the controls and what to do for different situations while the four had just walked in from one of their training sessions.

"What's wrong with, Bucky?" Barry asked, his brow furrowing at the news.

"Yeah, you got this," Tracey said to the female agent before walking over to her team. "It's nothing to worry about. At least I hope not," she sighed. "I don't know. A few days ago he was on edge. He punched a hole in our wall out of nowhere. He had entered our floor and stood in the middle of the room staring at me. He was rigid and his eyes were practically drilling holes into me. It was like he was watching my movements. He also spoke Russian. I haven't heard him do that in a long time…"

"I am sure he was recovering from the mission you came from," Wanda said, putting a hand on her friend's shoulder. "I am sure he is fine."

"You said he spoke Russian?" Barry asked, his brow still furrowed.

"Yeah, I'm not sure what he said, I never asked. When I tried to bring up what happened the next morning he wouldn't talk. He just avoided it," the hacker said with a sigh. "I'm not sure."

Barry stared at his feet. Bucky had spoken in Russian. The last time he heard his teammate say anything in Russian was the day they were fighting the twins and Ultron. It was when Wanda had messed with their heads. Bucky was freaking out and screaming in Russian, almost attacking Tracey. Barry clenched his fists. Bucky almost hurt his sister that day and from what Tracey was saying it sounded like he was about to attack her just a few days ago as well. Was the soldier relapsing? Or was it something else?

"Uh, Ms. Madison," the female agent from earlier called out. "There's a problem."

Tracey walked briskly over to the agent. "What's wrong?"

"I'm not sure, I uh, I forgot how to work this portion," the agent said, her cheeks going crimson.

"That's fine, you're learning. Let me check it out," Tracey said, pulling up a chair beside the agent. She fiddled around with some buttons, pulling up different radars and images. "A sensor's been tripped. Sam," she said, turning to the dark skinned man, "can you go take a look at it?"

"Yeah, no problem," Sam said, heading out through the door.

"What do you think it is?" Wanda asked, her brow furrowing as she walked up to Tracey.

"Hopefully it's nothing too bad," Tracey said, chewing her cheek as she began fixing the camera feed on the monitor.

Barry took the spot next to Tracey, setting up his feed as well. On the monitor there were different images of different parts of the base's perimeter. "What's going on down there, Sam?" he asked into the radio.

"That sensor that went off, but I'm not seeing anything," the Avenger replied. "Wait a second."

The twins and Wanda looked at the monitor that showed the feed they were getting from the cameras on the roof. All they could see was Sam standing there staring at a spot in front of him.

"What is he doing?" Wanda questioned.

"I can see you," they heard Sam call out.

"See who?" Tracey asked just as a man in a red and black suit with a strange looking helmet appeared out of nowhere.

"What the fuck!" Barry exclaimed, eyes going wide. "Did he just grow or something? What just happened?"

Tracey looked to Barry sharing a look. "Did he just say 'Hi, I'm Scott'?" she asked. "He's breaking into the base and he said 'Hi, I'm Scott'. Is this guy for real?" she said, trying to register what had happened.

"Who is this guy?" Barry said, looking at the monitor.

"What are you doing here?" Sam questioned.

"First off, I'm a big fan," the man said.

"'Ppreciate it," Sam replied. "Who the hell are you?"

The three inside the base watched as the man in the suit shifted from foot to foot before taking a strong stance. "I'm Ant-Man," they heard him answer.

"Ant-Man? What kind of name is that?" Barry asked with a slight scoff.

"Oh like you're one to talk. You didn't even have a name when you first joined," Tracey said, shoving her brother's arm.

"You don't even have a name, Trace!" Barry countered.

"I don't think I need one," Tracey said with an eye roll.

"I know this is not a good question, but he is not a friend, is he?" Wanda asked, looking at Barry and Tracey with a puzzled expression.

"Nope," Tracey said, popping the P.

"We've never even heard of the guy before," Barry added, gesturing to the man on the screen.

"What you haven't heard of me," the man named Scott said to Falcon. He shook his head. "No you wouldn't have heard of me."

"This Scott guy isn't exactly the best at being a villain, or hero, or whatever he's supposed to be," Barry commented, leaning back in his chair and folding his arms over his chest.

"You wanna tell me what you want?" Sam questioned.

"I was hoping to grab a piece of technology," Scott said, pointing towards a part of the base. "Just for a few days, I'm gonna return it. I need it to save the world, you know how that is," he said, laughing a little at the end.

"Well, he is a hero…I guess," Wanda said, tilting her head slightly in confusion. "Not a very good hero."

"Yeah I know exactly how that is," Sam said, taking steps towards the man. "Located the breach," he said into his comms link, "bringing him in."

"Sorry about this," Scott said, pulling the helmet down over his face. In a split second the man had shrunk just as Sam was about to grab him.

"So he did shrink!" Barry exclaimed, shooting up to sit on the edge of his seat as he watched the monitors.

"How have we not heard of this guy?" Tracey pondered.

"The breach is a male, who has some sort of shrinking tech," Sam stated.

"Yeah, we've gathered," Tracey replied. "This is insane," she said, watching as Falcon flew into the air, chasing after the man – wherever he was.

"Man, we're missing the fight. I can't even see the guy," Barry said, with a slight pout.

Tracey rolled her eyes at her brother. "We don't need to see the fight, we just need to catch the guy before he gets whatever he's looking for." She pressed a few buttons on the control panel, her eyes scanning the screens looking for Sam. After a few seconds she was able to get the cameras locked onto him. "Sam, do you hear me?"

"Yeah, Trace."

"Any sign of him?" Wanda asked, her eyes shifting from one screen to the next trying to catch Sam as he flew all around in the air.

"Yeah, I'm following him right now. The guy definitely lives up to his name. He's riding on the back of an ant."

"Wait seriously? That's awesome," Barry said, a smile growing on his face.

His twin sister rubbed her hands over her face in exasperation before side glancing him with a look. "Seriously, Bar?" She rolled her eyes. "Be careful and grab the guy, Sam."

"Working on it."

The fight went on and on, Sam firing his guns at whatever he could. Eventually the man named Scott grew back to his normal size, fighting Sam hand to hand. The two went all over the place, from the air to the ground. The three in the control room could barely keep track of where they went. At some point during the fight, Scott had gotten into one of the sections of the base with Sam walking in to find him. Seconds later Sam came bursting out, flailing his arms as he tried to reach the pack that held his wings. Through it all, Barry's jaw was dropped, Tracey held her head back every few minutes in bewilderment, and Wanda was trying to keep up with the fight. It was confusing and stressful trying to keep the man from getting whatever tech he supposedly needed to "save the world".

After Sam came bursting back out into the open field he threw his goggles off, examining what possible damage that was inflicted upon them. He sighed, lifting his wrist up. "It's really important that Cap doesn't find out about this."

"Oh sure, Steve won't want to hear about the possible break in," Barry said, nodding his head.

"Shut it, Bar," Sam's voice sounded.

ooOOoo

Steve glanced from one person to the next as the two watched the new recruits spar against each other. The new batch of agents weren't that bad. They knew how to fight, but with a few extra lessons, they'd be ready for some field missions. He smiled, nodding as he watched one agent flip another onto his back before glancing at the other soldier next to him. Bucky was keeping an eye on the recruits as well and this time he didn't seem to have a stiff stance as he did the other day. He seemed a lot calmer than before, which was a relief to the blond soldier. Seeing his friend on edge as he was at the beginning of the week worried him. But now that Bucky seemed to be happier was a relief.

"You seem happier," Steve commented before turning back to watch the recruits.

"Just a good day I guess," Bucky said, with a simple nod.

"Yeah," Steve said, nodding as well. "So do you want to talk about what happened a few days ago?"

The metal armed soldier froze, which didn't go unnoticed by his best friend. He took a deep breath, letting it out slowly. "Yeah about that…"

"What happened, Buck?" Steve asked, turning so that he was now facing him. "Was it something that happened on the mission?"

"What?" Bucky asked, brow furrowing. "No, no, it wasn't anything to do with the mission. It's uh…it's…"

"Buck," Steve said, placing a hand on the dark haired soldier's shoulder. "You can tell me anything. You know that. We're best friends."

"I know," Bucky sighed, running a hand through his hair. "It's just…uh…Steve…" He sighed once more. "I've been trying to figure this out by myself. I didn't want you or anyone else to worry, but at this point I know I should tell someone."

Steve grew worried. What was he talking about? What was going on that prevented his friend from saying anything. "Bucky, what's wrong?"

"Steve…I've been relapsing," he said, letting out a slow breath at the end. "The day I got back from the mission and went back to my floor after talking to you and Sharon, I relapsed. As soon as I got on the floor I had a relapse and all I remember is seeing black then staring seeing Tracey staring at me. I even punched a hole in the wall and I don't remember doing that. I'm scared, Steve. I'm scared of relapsing. I'm scared all my work during my recovery will have been pointless and I'll be relapsing more than just that moment. I'm scared I'll hurt someone and I don't want anything to happen."

"Buck…" Steve's brow arched up. He hadn't seen his friend this scared since the relapse where he had stabbed Tracey. But this? Bucky was definitely more scared than back then. He was scared all his work was going to be a waste. He was scared he was going to revert. "I promise you, you won't go back to being him. You won't hurt anyone. I promise you, you will get through this. It's just a bump in the road like during your recovery. Everyone is here for you."

"I know…" Bucky said, staring down at his feet.

"Have you told anyone else?"

"No, just you."

Steve's eyebrows shot up. "Not even Tracey? I would think you'd tell her before me."

The metal armed man shook his head, "I didn't want to make her worry. With the wedding coming up and trying to get last minute preparations done I didn't want to add that onto her list of things to stress out about."

"Bucky, you know she'll know something's wrong. That will make her more worried about you than you telling her what's up. She'll want to know what's wrong."

"I know, I know," Bucky said, nodding his head. "I just….I dion't know. I just didn't want to worry her or scare her."

"You're gonna have to tell her soon, not later."

"I know I-"

A small alarm went off, flashing a red light drawing the attention of everyone in the room. Steve and Bucky shared a look before turning to the new recruits, who they told not to worry and continue their training. The two soldiers ran down the hall, trying to find the control room where they knew the rest of their team was. A couple minutes later they had reached their location and found Sam looking worse for wear as he talked with Barry, Tracey, and Wanda.

"What happened?" Steve asked, looking from one teammate to the next.

"Some guy by the name of Ant-Man showed up," Sam answered.

"Ant-Man?" Bucky asked, his face scrunching up in confusion.

"Yeah, I don't know either. Never heard of the guy, but he's definitely not someone to overlook."

"What do you mean?" Steve asked, raising a brow.

Sam went silent an elongated "Uh" coning from him as he looked to the twins and Scarlet Witch. "He uh…"

"I told you Steve would find out," Barry said with a shrug.

"What would I find out?" Steve asked, giving Sam an expectant look.

"Well, he showed up claiming he was looking for some tech to borrow for a few days to 'save the world'," the Falcon said, using air quotes. "Scott-"

"His name is Scott?" Bucky asked, raising a brow as well. "He told you his name?"

"Yeah," Wanda spoke up, "he was not exactly the brightest man."

"Anyways, he has some sort of shrinking suit and he and I got into a fight. He uh…shorted my wings out…" Sam mumbled the last part.

"He shorted your wings out?" Steve repeated. "So he shrunk down and got into your pack and was able to rewire it?"

"Yeah, pretty much," Tracey said with a shrug.

"Did he take anything?" Steve asked, looking from each person to the next.

"We aren't sure," the hacker replied. "He was able to get into one portion of the building, but we haven't check there yet. We were about to just as you showed up."

"Alright," Captain America nodded. "Check that out and let us know if there's anything missing."

"Will do, Cap," Barry said, giving a small salute before walking out of the room with Wanda and Sam.

The soldiers watched as those three left before turning to look at Tracey, who was helping a female agent out. Whatever had happened seemed to have died down. Whoever the man was, they were going to have to keep him on their radar.

Steve looked over at Tracey before looking at Bucky who was looking at the cameras' monitors. "You need to tell Tracey."

"Yeah…" Bucky sighed. "I know…"

 **I am so so sorry for the late update. Yet again it took a month to update which I am really sorry about. This one took me forever to write because as soon as I finished chapter 2 I knew I wanted to throw in the Falcon vs Ant-Man scene because I love Ant-Man to death! Its definitely one of my favorite Marvel movies and the scene with Sam was amazing. I wanted to have some fun with that and that's how the scene came to be. However, that was the only idea I had for this chapter. I had another idea that was originally for a future chapter, but I wasn't sure if it would fit in with this chapter. Which is why it will appear in the next chapter. I'm really excited to write this story because I have SO MUCH planned and I hope you all like it.**

 **I want to thank dontstopbelieving123 for the idea of having a cute moment with Tracey and Bucky which is how this chapter was able to get a move on. So thank you so much, girl, it means a lot! Without you this chapter wouldn't be up now.**

 **If you want to send in prompts for Life at the Tower feel free to send them in via reviews, PMs, or through my tumblr at winter-is-ending.**

 **I want to thank you all so much for the reviews, favorites, and follows. I honestly never thought I would have a sequel to Winter is Ending, let alone creating a series. I honestly only had Winter is Ending planned out thinking it was utter trash. But after all your comments, favorites, and follows it encouraged me to continue on with a sequel and so and so on. It means a lot and without you all this series wouldn't be what it is. So thank you all so so so much!**

 **I hope you liked this chapter. Please leave a review and let me know what you thought. I'd love to hear what you liked or didn't like, it doesn't matter, I love hearing your opinions and advice!**


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Everything around him was soft, it felt nice. Compared to the nightmare filled sleep he went through last night, it was a relief to him. He didn't know what happened, it had been a week since the last nightmare, since the last relapse. He tended to have nightmares even after his full recovery that was something that he grew used to. They happened every so often. However, after the relapse he was worried that they would be every night and he thanked God that they weren't every night, but he was still worried about when and if he'd relapse again.

He rolled over in bed, burying his face in his pillow. It was soft, relaxing. A soft moan next to him alerted him of the person next to him. He smiled lightly and looked at the mass of blonde hair next to him. Tracey had her back to him and swaddled up in the blankets. She looked peaceful. He always envied that whenever he woke up from a nightmare. Jealous that she didn't go through reliving everything he went through while with HYDRA. Jealous that she didn't relive all the lives taken, all the blood spilled. But he was also grateful for that. He was glad she didn't have that pain and horror in her life. She didn't deserve that.

He watched as she turned over where she was now facing him. His eyes stared at her, watching her breathing. She was still sound asleep just as she always was at this time. He found it amusing how he was up and ready in the morning (after the early rises during the war it became a routine) and how Tracey was never one to wake up early (unless she needed to even then it took a while to get her up). But there were moments where he'd lay in for a while longer and lay there with her waiting for her to wake up. He enjoyed those moments, the moments where there was peace is in his life. No missions, no nightmares, no pain. Just spending time with his fiancé.

An arm wrapped around his waist, warm fingers trailing across his skin. He looked down at her, smiling lightly, and wrapped his arm around her. Normally he'd have woken her up by now, but she looked too peaceful to do that. He watched her chest rise and fall and felt her breath across his chest, he loved just holding her. It felt right, it felt normal. It made his usually crazy and superhero filled life seem normal. Just having someone to hold like this made him feel like himself before the war, before HYDRA existed, before he was the Winter Soldier, before anything happened.

He ran his hand up and down her arm, watching as goosebumps formed on her skin where his metal fingers trailed. He chuckled when Tracey curled up into him further, her arm tightening around him and her face burying into his chest. A smile graced his features as he stared down at his girl, but it slowly went away when he looked down at her stomach. Her shirt had risen up a little revealing a bit of her skin. His eyes landed on a specific part of it, the part where that bit of raised skin was. The scar that he had given her. The scar from when he had nearly killed her.

His eyes had grown solemn as he stared at the raised skin on the girl next to him. It was his fault she had gotten hurt. He slowly traced his metal fingers around the scar, gentle strokes across the skin as he looked back to that day.

" _You have information on HYDRA that doesn't belong to you," Bucky said now facing her, eyes slowly furrowing._

" _You know why I have files from HYDRA," Tracey said, putting her hands up as she took a small step back._

" _You have HYDRA's files. Why?" He took a step closer, hand gripping the knife._

" _Bucky, you have to stop. You're a good person." Her eyes traveled down to the knife in his hand. Her breathing started to grow rapid and her eyes grew wide. They flickered up to his._

" _You know too much." He was backing her up into the wall._

" _Bucky, don't do this. Stop." Her back hit the wall. She was growing scared. She was trying to reach him, but nothing was working._

" _Where are the files?"_

" _Bucky this isn't you. You don't work for HDYRA." She gasped when his arm gripped her throat._

" _Where are they?" he demanded._

" _You are James Buchanan Barnes. You are part of the Avengers. You are Steve Rogers' best friend," she desperately pleaded as she tried to pry his metal arm off her._

" _You need to be disposed of."_

" _Bucky, please!"_

" _Tracey!"_

 _Both Bucky's and Tracey's heads turned to see Barry charging towards them from the elevator. He threw a punch at Bucky only to have it blocked. Bucky quickly swung his arm that had been gripping Tracey's neck and smashed it into the side of Barry's head. He was soon flying across the room landing hard against the wall. He crumpled and landed on the ground unmoving._

" _Barry!" Tracey called out. She tried to take a step towards him, but froze when Bucky stood in her way._

" _Вы должны быть утилизированы," Bucky spoke right before stabbing the knife into the blonde woman's side._

He shook his head. The memory came flooding into his mind. It was so vivid. God, he never wanted to relive any moments from his past, especially that moment. Just remembering it brought more worries to the soldier. What if he relapsed and hurt Tracey like he did the last time? He could actually kill her!

"It's not your fault."

The soldier's head snapped over to look down at Tracey. She was staring up at him, a look of concern on her face. He blinked, his mouth opening to say something, but failing to think of anything.

"It's not your fault," she said, taking his metal hand in hers, removing it from her scar, and lacing her fingers with his. "I've told you before, it's not your fault."

"I'm sorry," he said, resting his head against hers. "I had a flashback to when it happened… I'm so sorry for hurting you, Tracey."

"Bucky, something's bothering you. You've been acting weird since last week. …Since what happened in the kitchen," she said, squeezing his hand.

"I um…"

He sucked in a breath. He wanted to tell her. He wanted to tell her about the relapse and tell her his worries about the possibility of another relapse. He was able to tell Steve at last just a few days ago, so he should be able to tell Tracey. He was marrying her, if they expected to be honest with each other he had to tell her. She was worried already, why continue adding onto her worries?

"Tracey…I um…I'm not entirely okay," he said, resting his head back on his pillow.

Tracey's brow furrowed and she lifted herself onto her elbow. "What's wrong, Bucky?" she asked, her voice filling with worry.

"What happened in the kitchen last week…I had a relapse…"

"Oh, sweetie," Tracey sighed, running a hand through his hair. "I'm so sorry…"

"I…I think it was because of what Wanda did to me during the fight with Ultron…" he said, closing his eyes as he sighed.

"When she showed you those visions," Tracey finished, slightly nodding her head. "Bucky, I'm so sorry."

"It's not your fault," he said, taking her hand and holding it against his chest. "It hasn't happened since then, but I'm worried it will happen again. What if next time I'm near you and I hurt you like last time? This scar," he said, placing his other hand over it, "is a reminder of what I did, of what I can do."

Tracey frowned and smacked his hand that was resting on her side. "Stop," she said sternly. "You're strong, you won't hurt me."

"I've nearly killed you multiple times, Tracey!" Bucky argued, sitting up now.

"But I'm here, right?" she said, following him and sitting up next to him. "Okay, you've hurt me, but you've never come close to killing me. Every time you relapsed you snapped right out of it. You've fought the relapses and managed to come to. You're strong, sweetie. Even if you relapse again you will snap out of it and I will be by your side no matter what happens. If you attack me, I won't run. I never have. You will be okay. Everything will be okay."

It was silent as Bucky stared at his fiancée. Tears were pricking at the corners of his eyes as they stared at each other. A heavy sigh escaped the soldier before he wrapped his arms around the hacker and buried his face in her neck.

"Thank you, Tracey," he said, squeezing his eyes shut as he continued to hold her.

"It will be okay, Bucky. I promise," she said, holding him tightly.

ooOOoo

"So have you guys found anything on this Ant-Man guy," Barry asked, throwing himself onto the couch. Dexter quickly followed and jumped onto the Avenger, causing an "oof" to come from the sandy haired man. "Thanks, Dex," he wheezed, patting the dog's head.

"Nothing, unfortunately," Wanda said, giving Tracey a quick thank you as the blonde handed her a cup of tea.

"I haven't found anything either," Sam said, leaning against the kitchen counter. "What about you, Trace?"

The four were currently on Tracey and Bucky's floor discussing the Ant-Man situation from two days ago. In that time span since the group had yet to find any information on the man. They had all agreed that because of the man's mannerisms he couldn't be an enemy, but they were hoping they could find him and possibly become allies. The problem was how do you find a guy named Scott who shrinks and grows?

"Actually," Tracey said, stepping around the kitchen island, a steaming cup of tea in hands, "I think I found something."

"Seriously?" Barry said, bolting up in his seat causing Dexter to bark and jump down from the couch. "Alright! Leave it to Trace to get the information we need!"

"What did you find?" Sam asked, turning his attention to the blonde.

"I was looking through some of the old S.H.I.E.L.D. files and found something about Hank Pym," she said, taking a sip from her tea.

"Wait, _the_ Dr. Hank Pym?" Barry asked, eyebrows shooting up. "You're kidding?"

"Who is this Dr. Pym?" Pietro asked as he rushed onto the floor, a gust of wind following him and blowing some of the others' hair around. He grinned at Wanda as she blew hair out of her mouth all the while glaring at him.

"Hank Pym is the man who discovered a type of particle that could reduce the size of an object while still maintaining its mass. He calls it the Pym Particle," Tracey explained. "And if you remember the news a couple ago about Pym Tech something weird happened."

"Oh yeah, didn't like a lot go down over there?" Barry asked, walking over to the group, Dexter finally ignoring him and curling up on his bed in the corner of the living room.

"Yes," his sister nodded. She tucked a piece of blonde hair behind her ear as she pulled her laptop up. "What happened was really odd, but it might be beneficial in finding Scott." She clicked a button and pulled up a video of a building. Pym Tech's logo was across the top above the doors and windows. The white stone of the building stood out against the night sky as the lights from the inside and outside shone. People could be heard screaming as they ran out of the building. It was chaos. Not to mention a random tank busted out of the building. In a few short minutes of the mess a bright light erupted from the building and in a split second the building disappeared.

"Some weird shit went down there," Sam commented, eyes widening in astonishment as the video replayed automatically.

"But think about it. The building didn't explode or anything, it looked like it _shrunk_ and disappeared into thin air. There were also reports an hour after of men growing and shrinking in someone's yard. There was another where a neighborhood kid caught a video of something happening at their neighbor's house." She clicked on another video and soon gasps were followed.

"Is that a Thomas the Train?" Sam asked, watching as a "toy" train burst through the bricks of the house.

"And that's a giant ant!" Barry exclaimed, his eyes bugging out. "Oh yeah, that's definitely all Scott. I mean his name is Ant-Man and it's a giant ant!"

"But the question is, how do we find him?" Wanda asked, placing her tea on the counter.

"We just leave that to Tracey," Pietro replied, grinning at the blonde woman who only rolled her eyes.

"I'll keep my eye out for any reports and camera feeds of the guy," she said, chewing her cheek. "I'll also try and look into any files on Hank Pym as well."

"Sounds good, Trace," Sam said, offering her a smile. "I'll go digging around as well. I might know someone who can help."

"Perfect, so we have a plan now!" Barry exclaimed, a smile on his face.

"Plan for what?"

The group turned to see Bucky entering the floor. He was dressed in his usual workout clothes, a pair of sweat pants and a plain t-shirt. A puzzled look was on his face as he looked from one teammate to the next.

"Hey, Buck!" Sam greeted a grin on his face.

"What's going on?" he asked as he made his way into the kitchen. He pulled a water bottle out of the refrigerator before practically chugging all its contents in one gulp. He raised a brow as he looked at everyone, waiting for an answer.

"Nothing really, just figuring out some things for the new headquarters. Some of the new agents are still struggling with how the controls at the control room work," Barry answered with a dismissive hand.

"Gotcha," the super soldier said, nodding his head slowly. He turned to his fiancé, eyebrow raised once more. "We're not feeding them dinner too, are we?"

Tracey giggled, shaking her head. "No, they were just about to leave anyways."

Wanda nodded. "Yes, thank you for the tea, Tracey," she said as she led the others out of the room.

Bucky watched as the group left before turning to his girl, with (yet again) a raised brow. "So what's going on?"

"Just researching into something. It's nothing serious. I promise," she said, smiling as she kissed his cheek. "How was the workout?"

"Good, but Tony left in the middle of it. Apparently he had a Stark Industries meeting somewhere in Japan he had to go to," he said, kissing her cheek in return before taking a seat at the kitchen counter. "Pepper had come in asking for him to go. She's got some meetings here she couldn't miss."

"Hmm," the hacker hummed, nodding her head. "I can't remember the last time he's gone out of town for a Stark Industries meeting."

"Yeah he was a little su-"

"Sergeant Barnes, Ms. Madison," FRIDAY's voice called out. "There's a disturbance down on Twenty Fourth. Crossbones is back and attacking."

Bucky went rigid. That bastard was back? His hands clenched into fists before he abruptly stood up, knocking his chair down. He stormed down the hall to their room, preparing his uniform and weapons.

"Thank you, FRIDAY," Tracey said, rushing after him. She watched as her fiancé stomped around the room, changing from his workout gear to his Avengers uniform. She could see how tense his muscles were. The soldier looked like he was ready to burst. "Bucky, breathe," she said, calmly, slowly walking up to him.

"That bastard is back!" he roared, whipping around to start at the woman. "He's back, Tracey!"

"I know, sweetie, I know," she said, placing a hand on his flesh arm. She could feel his muscles relax and could hear the metal plates in his left arm shift as he slowly relaxed. "I know he's back, but getting mad about it now won't help us stop him. Everything is going to be okay, Bucky. Right now we need to go stop him."

The super soldier nodded. Grabbing a gun that was thrown onto the bed and strapping it to his back, he walked out of the room. "Let's grab Pietro and Wanda and go."

ooOOoo

"Stop the bad man and save the day," Pietro said, as he ran around the street, dodging bullets that were flying at him. "Easier said than done."

"You've got this, Piet," Tracey said into her comm links as she ushered the screaming civilians to safety. "Just get him distracted long enough for Bucky and Wanda to get a shot at him. And then you can have your shot at him," she added at the end as she helped a little girl find her dad.

"Get that damn helmet off his head and I can get a shot at him," Bucky growled as he shot a couple times at the uniformed villain.

"Do not kill him, Bucky!" Tracey yelled. "No more deaths. We need to take him back so we can figure out what he's doing and why."

A growl erupted from the soldier as he glared at the man in front of him. Even underneath that dumb helmet he could tell Crossbones was smirking at him. Taunting him.

"Having fun, asset?" the enemy sneered, taking a shot at the soldier.

Bucky quickly took cover behind a car. His brow furrowed, his eyes flaring in anger. There was that name again! He despised it! He thought he was done being called that and yet here was that asshole calling him that once again. It was going to stop now. He jumped out from his hiding spot and scanned the area, gun raised, looking for Crossbones. Off a few yards away he found Pietro and Wanda doing all they could to hold the villain off and sustained.

From where he stood, he could see that Scarlet Witch had managed to hold him down with one of her energy fields. It was a clear shot. He could take Crossbones out. He could do it right now and get it over with. No more having to deal with the man who caused him pain during his HYDRA days.

"You could take the shot."

The soldier's eyes widened and he whipped around, gun pointing at the person standing behind him. There standing in front of him was this tall, slender woman who seemed to be just as well built as Natasha. She even had the red hair to match. What was odd was her choice of clothing. She had on a pair of skin tight leather, black pants, a bright red top with black straps on the shoulders. A red skull was in the center of it with black slots that held knives in them pointing towards the grinning face. A pair of thigh high boots that matched the red top were on her feet and on her arms were black and red gloves. A smirk was playing on her lips as she eyed the soldier. It was a woman the metal armed man had never seen before, but judging by the outfit (and the gun strapped to her hip) she wasn't a good guy.

"Who are you?" he asked, taking a slight step back as he raised his gun at her. His brow furrowed when the woman only smiled.

"Just a sinful woman," she said, a wicked grin growing on her face. "I'm just in awe that I finally get to see the assassin Zola created."

Bucky tensed when he heard that name. She knew who Zola was. Most likely from Crossbones, but why bring him up? To take him off guard? To take advantage of his distraction?

"You're with HYDRA then?" he said, a snarl forming on his lips.

"In a way," the woman said, walking around him, eyeing him up and down like a vulture would with its prey. "But enough about me, I want to talk about you. I mean, look at you! Look at that arm! It's amazing what Zola managed to create. It's beautiful."

The soldier stiffened. What was this woman's plan? What was she getting at?

"Hey, asset!"

Bucky snapped his head to look over his shoulder just as a grenade came flying at him. Eyes wide, he ran as fast as he could. Unfortunately he wasn't so lucky. Once the grenade went off the blast sent Bucky flying, slamming him into the side of a building.

Disoriented, he could hear the muffled sound of voices shouting. Shouting what? He couldn't make it out. His vision was going in and out. It wasn't until he saw red and black in his sight that he slowly came to.

"Is he dead?" the voice of a female asked. He felt a boot kick his leg, irritating him.

"No, he's breathing," a male replied.

"Should we take him now?"

"No, not ye-"

"Bucky!" It was the voice of a different female. He could hear the sound of footsteps in the distance coming closer to them.

"Take care of her," the man said.

"With pleasure," the first woman said, glee filling her voice. A gun cocking and footsteps leaving could be heard through the haze.

"Bucky!" the second woman called out.

He recognized that voice. A pang of familiarity hit him in the back of his head. He couldn't figure it out, but he knew that he needed to help them.

His eyes flew open, his vision finally coming back to him. He was met with a man in a skull helmet staring down at him. Looking around he saw a woman in red and black heading towards a woman with blonde hair. A gun was pointed at the second woman, who froze and stared wide eyed at the weapon.

"No!" the soldier roared, jumping up and knocking the helmeted man in front of him down. He turned towards the red and black woman and charged. He didn't know who these two characters were, but he needed to get them away. He grabbed a knife from his belt and as he got closer to the woman with the gun he swung. He missed.

"Shit!" the woman exclaimed, jumping back away from the second swing. "When did you get back on your feet? You're better than I thought."

The soldier only yelled, swinging his knife once again. He had to stop them! He had to!

"Sin!" the man called out, running towards the woman and soldier. He swung a fist at the soldier sending him to the ground.

It didn't last long as the soldier jumped right back up, yelling at the man as he swung the knife at the man now. They needed to die! They were going to if it was the last thing he did! It was what he knew. Kill anyone that got in his way.

As he fought the man with the helmet, he was too focused on him to notice the woman coming up behind him. A sudden sharp pain erupted through his skull as something hard and heavy smacked into the back of his head. He quickly crumpled to the ground.

"Took you long enough," Crossbones said, walking up to Sin.

"I got him, didn't I?" she asked, smirking up at him before placing a kiss on the cheek of his helmet. "This will be so fun!" she squealed as she looked down at the soldier.

"Bucky!"

The two villains looked up to see Tracey running up to the fallen man. She cradled his head in her lap, calling his name out over and over, telling him to wake up. "Bucky, please!"

Sin groaned, rolling her eyes. "Get over it, blondie. He's not waking up. In fact you're about to go to sleep too," she said, walking up to the blonde. As soon as she was in reach of her she let out a cry. "You bitch!" she exclaimed as she clutched her cheek.

Tracey glared up at the two, Bucky's discarded knife in her hand. She held it up, doing her best to protect Bucky. "Don't touch him!"

"Sorry, sweetheart, but we need your boyfriend," Crossbones said as he pulled out a gun and held it up to her head.

Before Tracey could do anything and before the gun could go off, the blonde was whisked up into a pair of arms. The wind was blowing around her and in seconds she was back on the ground next to Wanda and Pietro. She looked around, looking for Bucky. He wasn't with them.

"Bucky… We have to get Bucky!" she cried out, starting to run towards the two villains who stood over her fiancé's unconscious body. She was quickly held back as Wanda grabbed a hold of her arm.

"I have this," Pietro said, taking off to the three.

Wanda and Tracey watched as Pietro fought the two, pestering them as he circled them. It was becoming evident that Crossbones and the woman who was apparently named Sin were getting annoyed. However, their annoyance only powered their attacks. Wanda and Tracey watched in horror as Sin took a shot at Pietro, shooting his leg and knocking him off course. The female Maximoff screamed, hand flying to her mouth. She took a step to run towards her brother, but this time she was pulled back by Tracey. The blonde screamed, pointing at Crossbones who had thrown another grenade at them. Wanda pulled Tracey, running as far as they could only to have to pull her to the ground and create a field around them.

Once the explosion had cleared the two females looked around. Pietro was on the ground, clutching his leg, however, Crossbones, Sin, and Bucky were gone.

The two ran over to Pietro, checking his leg. But Tracey's mind was whirling. Where had they gone? Where was Bucky? Why did they take him? What was going to happen to him? Her heart hammered and her eyes whipped around, scanning the area frantically for any sign of the three. But no matter where she looked, they were nowhere to be found.

 **I finally finished! I'm sorry this took so long! But I got this out in time before tomorrow because it's my birthday tomorrow and I'll be busy. So here's a gift for you all!**

 **I'm sorry this took so long. I had so many things planned. Originally I was going to have Sin use the Winter Soldier shut down code on Bucky, but I learned that it's only a one-time thing and I'm not sure if they'll use it in Civil War so I figured I'd just have Bucky relapse to replace the shut down code.**

 **I really hope you liked it! I'm really excited for this story and I have so much planned for it. Hopefully I'll get it done before Civil War comes out. Fingers crossed!**

 **Also Deadpool, if you haven't seen it yet, you need to!**

 **If you'd like updates and other things related to the Winter series along with Marvel in general check out my tumblr winter-is-ending.**


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Everything was a daze. His mind was fuzzy and his vision blurry. He could feel his head rolling on his shoulders trying to keep it up right. The faint sound of voices could be heard. They were muffled, but he thought he could hear a male and female. What were they saying? He tried to focus on the voices, he tried, but in his daze he just couldn't. He could only focus on one thing that was repeating in his head. The sound of a woman's voice calling out something. Or someone.

"Bucky!"

He could hear it repeating over and over and over again in his head. He couldn't put a finger on it. He couldn't figure out whose voice was in his head. He blinked trying to get the blurry vision cleared, brow furrowing as he tried to focus. It was picking at his brain. A face was coming through the fog, but it was still unclear.

"T-Tr…Tra…" The name was coming out in pieces. He was slurring it as the words came tumbling out of his mouth.

Crossbones glanced over at the metal armed man and rolled his eyes. "She's not here, pal," he said with a scoff. "Is this thing ready yet?" he asked the man next to him.

"Just about, sir," the man replied, pressing some buttons at the computer he was sitting. He turned his chair and watched as straps snapped around the soldier's arms and legs.

"Let's get you comfortable," Crossbones said with a smirk under his helmet.

"Tr…Tra…Truh…" he stuttered, his head falling to one side.

"What's he going on about?" Sin asked as she walked into the room, glaring at the soldier. She held a rag to her face with blood staining the fabric.

"That girl of his," Crossbones answered over his shoulder.

"That bitch that ruined my face?" the red haired woman snarled. "She's dead."

"Oh come on," the helmeted man said, walking over to her and taking her hands in his. He smiled underneath the helmet. "You look beautiful, babe."

"That bitch cut my face!" Sin yelled, snatching her hands from her boyfriend's hands. She pressed the cloth back to her cheek again, mumbling profanities. "When I get my hands on that blonde bimbo she's dead."

"Come on, Sin, calm down. You'll get your chance at revenge. You don't think I want revenge on Cap and that Falcon guy?" Crossbones asked as he took off his helmet. His face was riddled with scars and burn marks. There was one that covered his whole left eye that stretched to his ear. Another was a single scar that slashed across his right temple and down to his cheek. "We'll get our revenge and some."

Sin smiled, placing a hand on the scar that was on his cheek. "You still look pretty hot to me," she said with a smirk. "Now," she said, glancing over at the soldier in the chair with a grin, "let's get this show on the road."

Crossbones smirked, turning back to the man at the control panel and watched as he hit a few buttons. He turned and watched as the chair slowly lowered the soldier back.

Bucky's eyes widened in realization as he felt the chair move. His eyes darted every which way trying to figure out how to get out. He knew what was happening. A pang in the back of his mind was reminding him of pain. He didn't want this. He didn't. He was still trying to figure out the face of the woman in his head. He began to hyperventilate as he stared up at the ceiling. He knew what was coming next. Images flashed through his head of other times where he was in a similar situation. As the headpieces zapped awake and began to lower, the soldier squeezed his eyes shut, praying that it was just a dream right before his screams filled the room.

ooOOoo

"Get the infirmary ready!" Tracey shouted as she and Wanda carried Pietro into the tower.

The two women struggled to hold the young man up as they made their way off the elevator and onto the medical wing. Wanda's heart was racing as she heard her brother's moans in pain.

"This way," a nurse said, running up to the three and helping the women escort Pietro to a medical bay. From there the doctor ran in helping the speedster into bed and began work on the man's leg.

Tracey looked over at Wanda as she was pushed out of the room. The brunette could only stare through the window as her twin was operated on. She could see her wringing her hands and could see the young woman's shoulders tens.

She placed a hand on her friend's shoulder, pulling back slightly when the newest Avenger flinched at her touch. "Hey," she softly spoke. "He'll be okay. I promise."

"It is just…" She took a deep breath; it came out as a shudder when she exhaled. "After Sokovia…after Ultron…I thought I lost Pietro so now seeing him in there worries me. I know he is fine, it is just a wound, but bullets and him scare me."

It was silent as Wanda continued to watch her brother and Tracey kept stealing glances at her friend. She knew how she felt. She worried about her own brother all the time when he was on missions. She knew exactly how the newest Avenger felt.

The blonde placed a hand on the brunette's shoulder, giving it a squeeze. "He'll be okay. He's strong."

"Thank you, Tracey," Wanda said with a smile that only lasted a second as she gave a concerned look to her friend. "I am so sorry about Bucky… I got distracted by Pietro getting hurt. I should have helped him."

Tracey shook her head. "No, it wasn't…" She took a deep breath. The fight from earlier kept flashing through her mind. She couldn't get it out. "It wasn't your fault." It wasn't anyone's fault other than Crossbones and that woman. "We'll get him ba-"

The hacker was interrupted as two nurses rushed up to her and Wanda, ushering them into their own medical bays. The two women protested, struggling to get out of the nurses' grips. They were fine. The only one they should be worrying about was Pietro.

It wasn't long until Steve. Natasha, and Clint came rushing into the infirmary. Looks of worry were on their faces when they saw the three in their medical bays. Clint and Natasha rushed over to Wanda asking her if she was okay before looking over at the speedster.

"You did good, kid," Clint said with a smile to the female twin. "And Piet is going to be fine."

Steve smiled at the little "family" moment before heading over to Tracey, chuckling when he heard her protesting against the nurse.

"I'm fine," she said with a huff. "Just go check on Pietro…" She trailed off when she made eye contact with the super soldier, her eyes going wide. "Steve…"

"Hey," the blond man greeted as he approached her. "Are you alright? Seemed like the mission went a bit south." He watched as Tracey opened her mouth only to close it and stare at her lap. This only worried the soldier. "Trace, you okay?"

"The mission…" She took a deep breath, closing her eyes. "The mission went more than a bit south, Steve."

"Tracey, what's happened?" Realization hit him. There were only three of them in the infirmary. "Bucky…"

The hacker's hands clenched into fists at the other super soldier's name. "We were fighting Crossbones and had things under control until Bucky was attacked. Turns out Crossbones wasn't alone. Some red haired woman was with him. I think her name was Sin. I'm not entirely sure, I only briefly caught it." She took another deep breath. "From there things went south. Bucky was attacked by both Sin and Crossbones and was eventually knocked out. They took him, Steve! They took him and I didn't see where they went!"

"Hey!" Steve said, placing his hands on his friend's shoulders. He stared at her, giving her a small, reassuring smile. "It's okay. We'll find him. Bucky's strong, he'll figure out how to get back to us. It's not the first time one of us was captured during a mission. Everything is going to be okay, Tracey."

She stared at the soldier, eyes wide. It was the same thing she told Bucky whenever he was having a nightmare. "Everything is going to be okay". They always told each other that when the other was worried. Whether it was something big or something pointless, they always told each other that to help the other calm down. Steve was right. Everything was going to be okay.

"Yeah, you're right," she said, nodding her head. "We won't get anywhere if I just keep worrying."

"Atta girl," Steve said with a big smile. "We'll find him. Get some rest, I'll start searching the city for anything that might help us."

The hacker nodded as she hopped off the medical bed. She gave her friend a smile and waved goodbye to the others before heading to the elevator.

ooOOoo

She stared out the window, watching the world below the tower move about. She chewed her cheek as she always did whenever she was thinking and her right hand twisted the ring on her left hand as she thought. Since leaving the infirmary she tried to get some sleep, but in the end she could only stare at the ceiling until she jumped out of bed. The blonde had occupied her time by feeding Dexter and Aleu, cleaning the kitchen – basically cleaning everything – and attempting to paint. In the end she only ended up staring out the window and giving up on painting.

Her eyes shifted over to glance at her laptop that was sitting on the coffee table. Her fingers itched and ticked just wanting to open the device and search everywhere and anywhere for her fiancé. He was out there somewhere, fighting or worried. Fighting to get home or worried about what would happen to himself. He just had a relapse, God only knew what the two villains that kidnapped him would do to trigger another one.

Tracey sighed, running a hand through her hair before she placed her hands in her lap and stared at them. Her heart clenched as she stared at the diamond on her finger that was shining in the light. A small, sad smile grew on her face as she stared at the ring remembering the day Bucky had proposed. She remembered the solider walking back onto the floor one day after coming back from a small fight that broke out with the Wrecking Crew. A large smile was on the man's face as he approached her with a large bouquet of red roses. The soldier was giddy and she couldn't help but laugh and question him. All he said was he was just in a good mood and wanted to treat her that day.

" _Bucky, where are you taking me?" Tracey laughed as she was led blindly with Bucky's hands over her eyes._

 _She could hear the soldier laughing as she tried to pull his hands off. "Just trust me, doll. Only a few more steps." He led her carefully through the path, gently pushing her along. "Alright," he said, smiling brightly as he reached the spot. He lifted his hands from her eyes._

 _Tracey smiled shaking her head, but stopped when she saw what was in front of her. She gasped and turned to look at her boyfriend. In front of them was a blanket spread out with a basket laying on it. She laughed. "A picnic?"_

" _Yeah," Bucky said, taking one of her hands in his metal one. The warmth of her hand spread through his cold one as he laced his fingers with hers. He smiled down at her as she smiled up at him. "I thought you'd like lunch at Central Park."_

" _I do like it," she said, hugging him._

 _He kissed her, smiling at the blonde woman. "Come on," he said, gently pulling her arm and leading her to the blanket._ _"I made your favorites."_

 _Tracey giggled. "My favorites? Why am I being treated so special?"_

" _I can't make you feel special?" Bucky grinned. "You know you're always special, but I thought today would be a great chance to spend time together."_

" _Well thank you," she said, laughing as she sat down next to him._

 _Twenty minutes or so passed as the couple spent time talking and eating. It was when she saw the metal armed man pull a bottle out of the basket._

" _Champagne?" Tracey asked, raising a brow. She smirked at Bucky. "Trying to be fancy, Sergeant?"_

" _Only the best for my girl," he grinned. She noticed his tense shoulders as he set the bottle down and took her hand. "Tracey…"_

 _The hacker looked at Bucky with a puzzled expression. "Yeah, Bucky?" she said, smiling at him. Her heart skipped a beat when she caught the look in his eyes._

" _Tracey, we've been together for two years and I couldn't have asked for two better years of my life. You've stayed by my side even after everything I've done. You haven't blamed me for anything bad I've done. You've helped me through my recovery, brought back James Buchanan Barnes, and have made me a better man. Tracey, I love you with all my heart. These two years have been the best years of my life, but…I want the rest of the years of my life to be even better with you." The blonde's heat began to pound as she watched him pull a box out of his pocket and get down on his knee. "Tracey Madison, will you marry me?"_

 _Tracey's heart skipped a beat. Her mouth fell open and her eyes grew wide as she stared at the ring. It was a simple silver band with a simple squared design. She looked at Bucky as he stared at her expectantly. She couldn't believe this. He proposed. He proposed to her! Tears began to form in her eyes and she nodded her head furiously. "Yes! Oh my god! Yes, Bucky!" she said, smiling widely as she flung her arms around him._

She could remember the broad smile on Bucky's face when she said yes. His eyes lit up the brightest she had ever seen. She was in tears for nearly five minutes. Tears of shock and tears of joy. That day was the day that started a new chapter in her life, a new life with the man she loved. But here she was, sitting in silence – nearly a week away from their wedding – worried about Bucky. Worried about his whereabouts and his wellbeing.

She twisted her ring around her finger as she continued to stare out the window. "I'll find you, Bucky. I promise."

 **I'm sorry this took a while. This semester of school has been really busy and I've been trying to find inspiration and motivation to finish this. I hope you liked the chapter. With the flashback it was from my** _ **oneshot I'd Rather Be Fighting Hydra**_ **where Bucky proposed. However, I changed that scene up a bit from the oneshot to make it more of Tracey's POV than Bucky's.**

 **Quick life update:**

 **Unfortunately I'm going to have to take a hiatus from the story and from my tumblr for a little bit until I catch up on school. I have a research paper I need to work on and until that is done I won't be able to write. I am also not entirely sure I will be able to finish this story before Civil War at this rate. Just wanted to give a heads up.**

 **I hope you guys liked the chapter, I wanted to have a little bit of angst with Tracey so I hope you liked it. I'd love to hear your thoughts so please leave a review!**


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

The sound of the elevator doors opening brought the hacker's attention away from her computer. Her head whipped around and she found Steve taking his Captain America helmet off as he stepped onto the floor. The soldier ran a hand through his already disheveled hair. Immediately Tracey jumped up from the couch hurrying to her friend with an expectant face.

"Anything?" she asked, her eyes pleading up at him.

A sigh blew passed the super soldier's lips as he ran his hand through his hair again. Finally meeting her eyes he shook his head. "Nothing."

The blonde woman lowered her head and closed her eyes as she took a breath. "Right."

"We'll find him, Trace," Steve said, placing a hand on her shoulder. "We lost him once a last year and got him back, we can do it again."

"I know, I'm just worried. He's been relapsing," Tracey stated, "and most likely Crossbones and Sin are wiping his memories. Those two things aren't going to be good on him. He's been worried about the relapses. He's been scared, Steve."

"I know…" he sighed. "I know, Tracey. I'm worried too. But we just have to keep looking. We'll find him." He paused, looking out the window, his eye catching Tracey's laptop on the couch. "Have you found anything?"

"Kind of…" the hacker said, stepping away and grabbing her device. "I was able to pull up the footage from the street cameras from the fight against Crossbones and Sin," she said, clicking on a file. On the screen was a video showing Crossbones and Sin surrounding a semiconscious Bucky. In a split second a blue blur streaked across the screen and Pietro was attacking the couple. It continued like this with Pietro circling Crossbones and Sin before getting shot in the leg. No soon after the footage turned to static.

"What happened?" Steve asked, his brow furrowed as he looked at his teammate.

"I guess they got a hold of the footage and altered it," Tracey responded.

"Can you recover it?"

"I've been working on that. It's a lot tougher than I first thought."

"But you can do it, right?"

Tracey looked up at the man with a raised brow. "This is me, Steve. I can do it," she said with a smirk.

"That's what I like to hear," Steve chuckled. He placed a hand on her shoulder, giving it a tight squeeze. "Let's take a trip."

"A trip?" Tracey asked, her face scrunching up in confusion. "What for?"

"To get you out of the tower," he said, placing a hand on her back as he led her out of the room. "And to see someone who wants to make sure we're okay."

ooOOoo

Tracey looked around her, smiling every now and then to some of the residents as she and Steve walked down the hall. It was quiet between the two as they searched for the room. The only sound coming from the hum of the fluorescent lights, the drone of TVs playing in multiple rooms, and the voices from the residents and assistants as they chatted amongst each other. The hacker didn't know why she and the soldier were here, but she didn't mind at all. It gave a bit of a distraction from their current situation.

"Does she know we're coming?" she asked, looking up at Steve.

"Yeah, I called her before I got back to the tower. She was happy to hear that we were coming for a visit," he said, a small smile forming on his lips.

Slowing down, they approached a door that had room number B17 on it. At the foot of the door was a welcome mat with a P in the center that had a frame around it that curled around it. A small potted plant sat next to the door with white azaleas blooming in it. The outside of the door was simple, but gave a homey feel to it amongst the dull green hall.

Pressing the doorbell the two waited until the door slowly opened and a white haired, elderly woman who greeted them with a bright smile. "Steve! Tracey! I'm so happy to see you! It's been so dull here lately."

"Hi, Becca," Steve greeted as he was pulled into a hug.

"How have you been?" Tracey asked, hugging the woman.

"I've been getting by," Becca said as she led the two into the room. "Just been talking with some of the other residents. Playing bingo. The typical things to do at a senior home. I have started gardening again. I have some out on the patio," she said, gesturing to the glass door that led out to the miniature patio.

"They look nice," Tracey commented, glancing out the sliding glass door. Outside there were potted plants, flowers of all colors bloomed and hung out of the pots.

Rebecca glanced at Tracey, watching the blonde woman with a small smile. "It's okay," she said, placing a wrinkled hand over the other woman's. She smiled at her when she looked up. "Bucky will be back."

"You know about what happened?" Steve asked, glancing from Tracey to Rebecca.

"Of course I know!" Becca exclaimed. "You don't think I keep up with the news on all of you? You live more exciting lives than an old woman who plays bingo on Wednesday because she has nothing better to do."

Steve and Tracey couldn't help but let out a chuckle as they looked at their older friend.

"You won't believe the garbage they make up about you guys," the elderly woman said with an eye roll. "It's laughable." She glanced over at Tracey, giving her another smile. She gave the young woman's hand a squeeze. "It will be okay."

Tracey swallowed, nodding her head with a tight lipped smile. "I know," she replied quietly. "It's just…hard… The number of times Bucky has gone through this exact situation has been one too many. He doesn't deserve to go through what he went through with Hydra again."

Steve closed his eyes, hanging his head as he listened to Tracey. She was right. Bucky worked hard for his memories only to have them wiped again with Burnow and then there were the relapses as of late. And now there's Crossbones and Sin kidnapping him; most likely they found a way to wipe his memories away. A sigh left the soldier. He didn't want to think of what his best friend was going through right now.

"I know. But my brother is strong. He has always been strong and he will get through this," Rebecca said, giving Tracey's hand a squeeze. She took a deep breath, letting it out slowly. "Things happen to us for a reason and we can't control it. There's a reason this is happening to Bucky. It's not the best thing to happen to him, but it's a way for God to test him. To show his strength. Bucky will get through this and he will come back to us. I mean he has his wedding coming up after all," she said, giving a grin to the blonde.

"Hm," Tracey hummed with a smile. "He has been excited about it."

"Tell me about it," Steve spoke up, leaning back in his seat. "He hasn't shut up about it the week before this all happened."

"You don't think I know that?" Becca shot back with a laugh. "Whenever my brother has called me or visited me all he talks about is the wedding. He truly loves you, Tracey, and that love is what gives him his strength. He will come back. Things will get better."

"Yeah," Tracey said, a small smile on her face as she turned her head to stare out at the patio again.

"Now," Rebecca said, standing up from her chair and heading to the small kitchen. "Have you two picked out where your honeymoon will be?" She came back with a few glasses of iced tea on a tray, passing them to the two guests.

"It took a while," the hacker began, taking her glass. "We looked at different locations and islands for months, but in the end we agreed on Hawaii," she finished with a smile before taking a sip of her drink.

"Hawaii?" Steve asked, raising a brow.

"I've always wanted to go there and Bucky really didn't mind where we went. Although he was the one who brought it up."

Becca let out a chuckle. "He would. Growing up he'd always talk about how he'd one day get enough money to go to Hawaii. He always loved the idea of going to a beach. He only got to go once back then."

"I remember him telling me that too," Tracey said with a small laugh. "He sounded like a dreamer back then."

"Still is," Steve laughed. "The jerk always talks about plans for the future even now."

"Yeah," Tracey began, "after the engagement we tended to talk about what we'd do after the wedding. Bucky always talked about how he wanted a family."

"I remember that as well," Rebecca stated. "But that's Bucky for you. We were grown up by our parents. Bucky looked up to our dad and knew that's how he wanted to live his life. A good husband, a good father, and a good man."

"That has to make the relapses even worse for him…" Tracey whispered, looking down at her lap.

"Most likely," Steve said, "but being a part of the Avengers and helping others makes him feel better about himself after all he did as the Winter Soldier."

"He was always a good man," Rebecca said, shaking her head. "Even as the Winter Soldier he was a good man. He was just being used, unable to control himself."

"I know," Tracey replied quietly, nodding her head.

Becca sighed, pursing her lips as she stared at the distraught expression on the blonde's face. "Okay, how about some lunch?" she asked, standing up and heading to the kitchen. "I have leftover casserole that needs to be eaten. Up! Come on! Stevie, I need help setting the table."

Rolling his eyes, Steve stood up from his chair, smirking as he followed Rebecca. He placed a hand on Tracey's shoulder, bringing her attention to and smiled at her. Giving her a quick wink he followed Rebecca into the kitchen leaving Tracey staring out the patio doors once more.

ooOOoo

Clear sky, sun overhead, slight breeze. Wouldn't make that hard of a shot. From his perch atop the building he was on he could see everyone and everything below him. It gave him a sense of authority – of power – as if he was a bigger being than everyone else. It made him feel in control.

He pulled the scope up to his eyes, finding his target in seconds. His target was in the park throwing a baseball with a young boy. The kid was innocent; not the target. The target on the other hand wasn't. He was someone who could get in the way. Someone that would cause problems. Someone that needed to be eliminated.

He moved the gun, the scope following his target as he ran moved around. His finger laid against the trigger, ready to strike at the perfect moment. He could feel his skin heating up as the sun beat down on him. He didn't mind it, it was better than the ghost chill that would run through his veins every now and then.

Now. The young boy turned his back from the target as he went after the baseball. With a quick pull of trigger his target was down, face buried in the grass. He watched as the boy turned around, a smile on his face as he held the baseball up. That smile fell when his eyes landed on the target. He slowly walked up to the fallen man, hope and fear in his eyes. Hope that the target – his father – was just playing a joke. Fear that his dad wouldn't get up. That fear was confirmed when he turned the man over and saw a large stain of blood – still growing – on his shirt. The young boy began crying and screaming as he shook his dad, trying to wake him up.

But the target wouldn't, he made sure of that. He stood up, eyes staring down at the scene as a few people began crowding the young boy and dead man. Target was eliminated. Mission complete. Time to head back to headquarters and report.

 **I am so sorry for the late update once again. Life has caught up to me and school has been busy. But I have finally gotten all the more challenging homework done leaving me with time to try and catch up on writing. This chapter took me a while because I wasn't sure if I wanted to further the plot or to make it a filler. In the end it became a filler, but I like how it turned out. I got to bring Rebecca into the series outside of my oneshot Reunion. I also got the idea of the final scene from an episode of Criminal Minds (my current obsession). I hope you like it.**

 **PLEASE READ. I NEED HELP**

 **I'm becoming hesitant on continuing the Winter Series. I don't feel like I have as many readers as before. I just want to know if I am pushing it with so many stories after Winter is Ending. I am also debating on whether to edit/rewrite Falling Again. I got a lot of negative thoughts on the part with Tracey keeping her conversations with Burnow from the team so I'm debating on rewriting those scenes at the very least. I'm still unsure. I would honestly love feedback on the series. Whether it's good or bad, what you like, what you don't like, I'd appreciate any and all feedback. Thank you!**

 **I hope you liked the chapter. I still have a little bit to go on the story and unfortunately I won't be able to get it done before Civil War. So I'm sorry about that. But seeing Civil War might be able to help get an idea on how to end the story. Who knows? I really hope you liked the chapter, let me know if there's anything I could have done better.**


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Something cold ran across her cheek causing her face to scrunch up a little in discomfort. She moaned, swatting her hand at whatever it was that was touching her. It was too early for her all she wanted to do was sleep in and not worry about whatever the day was going to bring. Or whatever else was going to happen. Rolling over in bed, she grabbed her Bucky bear and pulled it close to her chest before letting out a sigh. Once again she felt something cold trailing down her cheek and once again she swatted at it.

A deep chuckle came from above her, bringing her senses on high alert. She turned her head and looked up with wide eyes at the face of her fiancé. A sharp intake of breath could be heard as she continued to stare up at him, her eyes scanning his face as he smiled down at her.

"Bucky?" she whispered, disbelief and hope evident in her voice.

"Morning, doll," the super soldier said with a bright smile, running his metal fingers across her face again. "It's about time you woke up," he laughed. "We're going to be late."

"Late? Late for what?" she asked, sitting up as Bucky headed into the bathroom. She watched him, following his movements as she tried to register what was going on.

"For lunch with your mom," he said, poking his head out of the bathroom doorway. "Are you still waking up or something? We've planned this for a while now."

"Lunch…with my mom?" she questioned, brows furrowing as she swung her legs off the bed. A chill ran up her spine as her feet touched the cold floor. "Bucky…what…what's going on?" she asked as she slowly padded into the bathroom.

"What do you mean, Trace?" he asked as he smeared shaving cream onto his face.

"Bucky…you're not supposed to be here…" she spoke slowly. "Yo-you're missing…"

"Missing?" he asked, running the razor over his face. He let out a chuckle. "Well I'm no longer missing now I guess."

"No," she said, shaking her head fervently as she stared at his reflection in the mirror. "You're missing. Crossbones and Sin-"

Bucky's brow furrowed as he whipped around to stare at his fiancée. "Crossbones and Sin?" Anger was on his face. "What about Crossbones? And who's Sin?"

Tracey's heart rate was picking up, her breathing was becoming heavier as she tried to assess what was going on. "Bucky…"

"What's going on, Tracey?" he demanded, taking a step closer to the blonde.

"Bucky…you were kidnapped by them. You're still missing," she said, tears slowly forming in her eyes.

"I was kidnapped? What the hell are you talking about?" the metal armed man said, his voice getting gradually louder. "I'm right here! I was never kidnapped!"

"No, you were! You were kidnapped! I saw it!" Tracey argued, her hands shaking as she stared up at Bucky.

"What the hell is going on, Tracey?" he yelled.

"Why are you here? How did you get back?"

"I was never gone!" he shouted. "What are you not telling me?" His metal hand shot out, grabbing Tracey by the throat.

"Bucky!" she exclaimed, her hands gripping his wrist. "What are you doing?" She gasped as she felt his hand tighten around her throat.

"What are you not telling me?" he screamed, eyes burning as he stared at the woman.

"Please…" she pleaded, her breath coming out in small gasps. Her vision was slowly going in and out as his grip was gradually getting tighter. "Bucky…please…"

ooOOoo

She gasped, taking in a large gulp of air as she bolted up in her chair. Her eyes were wide as she looked around the room. She was on the top floor of the Avengers Tower.

"Bad dream?"

Tracey turned around to see Pepper at a table, paper scattered around the surface. The blonde ran a hand through her hair, letting out a deep sigh. "Uh…yeah…yeah."

Pepper looked at the younger woman across the room. Tracey was staring at a wall, her eyes showing her in another world. The red haired woman pursed her lips before standing up, her chair screeching against the floor. "Ooh," she groaned, placing a hand on her swollen stomach. Approaching the hacker she asked, "Do you want to talk about it?"

A sigh ghosted past the blonde's lips and stared at her lap. She wasn't sure if she wanted to talk about it. She wasn't even sure what the dream meant. She had never had a dream where Bucky attacked her. Only her being captured or everyone she cared about dead. So why was she dreaming about him attacking her? What did it mean?

The older woman looked at her friend, her face falling as she could see the distress on Tracey's face. She noticed how she was chewing her cheek like she always did whenever she was thinking, she also noted how the blonde was spinning her engagement ring around her finger. Pepper pursed her lips and slowly lowered herself down onto the couch next to Tracey's chair. "Tracey, sweetie," she said, placing a warm hand over the blonde's folded ones. "You don't have to talk about it if you don't want to. I'm not going to force you. But I want you to know that I am here for you if you ever need anything. Your mom asked me to watch over you while you're here and I've been doing my best. I'm worried about you and I know how what's happened recently is affecting you."

"Thank you," Tracey said, smiling lightly at her mom's friend. Pepper had always been there for her throughout her life, even before she joined the Avengers or even knew Tony. She had always been like a second mom to her and Tony a second dad. The two were always there for her and Barry after their dad's death, they were what they needed whenever things got tough. Like now. She sighed, running a hand through her hair. "It's not that I don't want to talk about it, I want to talk about it. It's more of I don't know why."

"What do you mean? What was the dream?" Pepper asked, her brow furrowing.

Tracey sighed once more. "I had a dream where I woke up with Bucky back in our room. He was waking me up for lunch with my mom, acting as if nothing from the past week had happened. As if it was another normal day. But I knew it wasn't normal. I was questioning it. I consciously knew that something was wrong, wondering why he was back. I kept questioning him, trying to convince him he wasn't here, that he was kidnapped. And then….then he attacked me…"

Pepper squeezed her hand when she saw Tracey lower her head to stare at her lap. "You know he'd never hurt you."

"I know. I know Bucky would never hurt me. He'd hate himself if he did," Tracey agreed. "But it's the fact that I dreamt he did. I've never had that kind of dream. I've only ever dreamt of Bucky relapsing and being scared; me being kidnapped by Hydra or whatever psychotic group is out there; or everyone dying. I'm confused why I dreamt Bucky attacking me. Why now?"

"Maybe it's just the stress of Bucky being gone. Of not knowing where he is," Pepper offered.

"But I was stressed when he was with Burnow, when I thought he had his memory wiped again. I never dreamt anything like I did back then. Why now?"

The red head pursed her lips, wracking her brain for an answer, only to come up with nothing. She sighed, but quickly looked down at her stomach when she felt a thump on her stomach. She smiled lightly as she placed a hand on her baby bump. "Sometimes our minds show us things that don't make sense. Sometimes they don't make sense at first, but eventually the answer will come to you." She smiled at the hacker when Tracey placed her own hand on her stomach, smiling when she felt the baby kick. "What I think your dream means is that Bucky will be okay, but it's going to be a challenge to get him back. But he _will_ come back to you."

Tracey took a deep breath, leaning back in her seat. "Thank you, Pepper. Thank you for just being here."

"I'll always be here for you, Tracey. Remember that," Pepper said, pulling the young woman into a hug.

Tracey smiled at her friend before looking at the baby bump. "How's everything going for you?"

"Really well. I'm just ready for this little one to be born so I can see my feet again," Pepper laughed, rubbing her baby bump. "Andrew's been a hassle."

"It will be worth when he gets here," Tracey said, smiling warmly at the future mother.

"It will," she sighed happily. "Alright," she groaned as she stood up. "I need to get the rest of this information organized and head off for a meeting."

"Do you need help?" Tracey asked, turning around in her seat as the red haired woman headed back to the table.

"Well I wouldn't mind some help," Pepper said with a grin. "Come on, go get changed and I'll get the rest of the papers in order."

"Alright, sounds good," Tracey said, heading to the elevator. The meeting would be a good distraction. She had a lot swimming through her head every day that something like a meeting would be good to get her thoughts focused on something else.

ooOOoo

Crossbones and Sin looked up and over to the doorway when they heard footsteps approaching. Coming through the door was the Winter Soldier, gun holstered on his back and mask covering his face. Crossbones smirked as the soldier walked into the room.

"Report?"

"Targets are eliminated," the Winter Soldier informed.

"Excellent. You've been doing well with your missions lately," Crossbones said, nodding his head thoughtfully.

The soldier didn't say anything just stood there waiting for whatever orders the two would give him. He looked from Sin, who was smirking to herself before she turned her attention back to her phone, to Crossbones, who was plugging some information into a computer.

"Chair," the scarred man said, nodding his head towards the large mechanical chair behind them.

The Winter Soldier froze, his muscles tense as he stared at the chair. He knew what that meant. Pain. Pain and his memories of the mission would be gone. Memories in general. Memories like the one he witnessed today during his mission. He saw a flash of some skinny blond man. He was with him for some reason. He couldn't remember why he was with him or why he felt familiar. Then there was a memory of some blonde woman sleeping in a bed next to him. Both the man and woman felt familiar, but he couldn't figure out why. He wanted to hold onto those memories to see if he could get an answer, however, if he was put in that chair he'd lose those memories.

"Now."

He looked up, his eyes meeting those of Crossbones, who was glaring at him. He nodded numbly as he walked over to the chair. His heart beat faster and faster with each step, his throat tightening up. Sitting in the chair, he looked up at the headpiece that would soon be lowering onto his head. He didn't want to go through this again.

"Why do we need to waste our time with this?" Sin groaned, standing up and walking over to her boyfriend. "We go through this after every mission."

"Because if we don't he'll start to remember," Crossbones explained. "When he was with Hydra we would wipe him and freeze him after every mission, unlike that Burnow guy. From what I heard, he didn't bother wiping him after every mission he sent the soldier out on."

"He remembers that quickly?" Sin asked, quirking a brow as her upper lip lifted up. "That can't be possible after the number of times he's gone through that chair."

"You'd be surprised. He's strong so we need to be stronger and wipe his memories as much as we can," he said, hitting a few buttons on the control pad.

"Okay then…" Sin said, watching as the headpiece on the chair lowered towards the metal armed man.

The Winter Soldier's eyes widened as he heard the electricity from the headpiece buzz as it lowered down towards his head. His breathing picked up, his chest rising and falling rapidly. He didn't want to go through this again. He didn't want to forget again. He wanted to hold on to those two memories and try to figure them out.

"He's scared," Sin commented, smirking as she watched the soldier hyperventilate. "It's amusing. He's one of the strongest and most feared men and here he is terrified of this."

"He always was," Crossbones said, watching as the headpiece lowered onto the soldier's head.

The soldier screamed his head off as the electricity coursed through his head to the rest of his body. The pain was excruciating! He couldn't take it! He hated it! Why? Why did he have to go through this? Why?

Crossbones and Sin watched as the soldier's memories were slowly erased from his mind. Smiles were on their faces as they waited for it to be over. Minutes later, Crossbones hit a button and the headpiece began to raise.

"Hey, pal," he called out to the soldier. "How you feeling?" He smirked as the chair sat up straight revealing the blank stare of the Winter Soldier. "Guess what, you've got another mission. We've got a mission."

"We do?" Sin asked, raising a brow. "How come you haven't told me?" she snapped.

"Calm down, babe. It's a surprise for you. We're going to the Stark Industries meeting taking place downtown. We need you to disrupt that meeting," he said, directing his orders to the soldier in the chair, who only replied with a cold stare. "And we are going to accompany you." Crossbones turned to his girlfriend, a smirk on his face. "One of our men saw that Madison woman going to that meeting with Stark's girl. Seems about time you got your revenge on her for messing up your face."

A malicious grin grew on Sin's face at the news. "Sounds perfect."

ooOOoo

"So when's Tony coming home?" Tracey asked as she and Pepper followed the clients out of the meeting.

"In a few hours. From what it sounds like the meeting in Japan went well and he was able to leave early," Pepper answered, smiling lightly. "Which is good because all I heard on his flight there was him complaining about going. Tried to use spending time with me and the baby as an excuse."

"Well it's a pretty good excuse," Tracey laughed. "I'm glad he's coming home. You two need a break."

"I'm guessing you didn't tell him about what happened with Bucky," she said, hesitantly as they entered the lobby of the building.

"No, I hadn't had time to talk to Tony," Tracey said, her brow furrowing. "Why do you ask?"

"Well he also said he's coming home for the wedding…"

Tracey's breath hitched. The wedding. The wedding was this week. How could she forget? She felt her heart fall to the pit of her stomach. How could she forget about the wedding? She and Bucky had been planning it for a year now.

"Tracey, sweetie," Pepper said, placing a hand on her friend's shoulder. "Breathe."

"The wedding…" the hacker whispered.

"It's going to be okay, sweetie," the Stark Industries CEO said, trying to bring her friend back from her daze. "Everything's going to be okay."

Tears were welling up in Tracey's eyes. "No…the wedding is this week and Bucky…Bucky's…he's…" She buried her face in her hands. "Oh, Pepper! The wedding is this week and Bucky's missing still! What am I supposed to do?"

"Tracey, I promise you everything is going to be oka-"

An explosion cut Pepper off as the two women were sent flying. Screaming could be heard from people all around them. Hurried footsteps scattered all around them.

Tracey slowly opened her eyes and tried to sit up only to fall back down. Pain coursed through her body making it impossible for her to move. She lifted her head – gritting her teeth as her neck stung – and looked at her surroundings. All around her she saw chaos. Dust was everywhere making the air thick, the front of the building was destroyed. She saw bodies lying on the ground, some crushed under debris; others mutilated and burned. She turned her head and found Pepper lying on the ground next to her, a cut just above her eye. She herself probably had cuts somewhere on her, but right now she didn't care.

"Pepper," she moaned, slowly standing up and getting to the other woman. "Pepper, get up, please."

"Oh dear, I didn't know she was pregnant," a sickly sweet voice came from behind her.

Tracey froze. She knew that taunting voice. Sin. "You," she gasped as she whipped around to be face to face with the woman.

"Yep, it's me again. And this time I'm getting pay back for what you did to my face," she snarled.

"It's barely anything," Tracey said, rolling her eyes. "And believe me, it's an improvement."

"You little bitch!" Sin snapped, charging at her.

Tracey's eyes widened and she quickly bolted out of the building and away from the psychotic woman. "I'm sorry, Pepper." She made her way out onto the street, finding a crowd of civilians standing around and staring at the mess that once was a building. "There are people in there! She shouted. Someone call 911!"

"You're not getting away from me that easily!" Sin shouted as she came out of the smoke and rubble.

At the sight of a gun in the red head's hand Tracey's heart skipped a beat. "Everyone out of the way now!" she shouted. There were too many people and they were going to get hurt because of her. She needed help. Quickly pulling out her phone she hit a button and held it up to her ear.

"Hello?"

"Steve!" she yelled into the phone. "I need help! There was an explosion at Stark Industries. Pepper's inside unconscious! Sin is here and she's after me. Crossbones has to be here somewhere!" She screamed as she turned a corner. Speak of the devil and he shall appear. There was Crossbones, helmet covering his face and a gun in his hand.

"Hello, doll face," he greeted.

"Steve, help…" she whispered as she hung up and took a step away from the man.

"Ah don't be scared. I'm not here to hurt you. That's someone else's job," he said, a grin evident in his voice.

"Who? Your girlfriend? We already ran into each other," Tracey said, glaring at the helmeted man.

"Oh yeah, she and I discussed it. She wanted revenge for what you did to her face, but we figured out a better revenge. Something that will benefit the both of us," he replied.

"And what do you have planned?"

"Something to do with your fiancé."

Her heart stopped. "Bucky? Where is he?" she yelled. "What have you done to him?"

"Oh the usual," he said with a shrug. "Wipe his memories so he wouldn't remember Cap, you, or anyone. He's just a mindless machine right now."

"Where is he?"

"He's coming. He's the one who will be taking care of you," Crossbones said with a dark laugh. "Sin and I agreed that watching him kill you would be the most favorable solution. My girl would get her revenge and then your Bucky will have to live with the guilt of killing his girl. Oh speak of the devil," he said, nodding his head in the hacker's direction.

Tracey whipped around and came face to face with Bucky. He was completely decked out in similar uniform to his old Winter Soldier one; a gun in hand. "Bucky…" she breathed.

"It's about time you showed up. Take care of her will you?"

All the blonde woman could do was stare at her fiancé as he stared at her with cold dark eyes. They were the same blue eyes she grew to love, but they had the same dark look to them like they did whenever he relapsed.

"Bucky…it's me…" she said, giving a small hopeful smile. She gasped when he held the gun up at her. "Bucky…"

"Who the hell is Bucky?" he asked in a dead voice.

"You are. You're Bucky…" she said cautiously. The number of times she had witnessed Bucky relapsing through their relationship had prepared her. She knew how to handle him. Take things slowly and try to get him to remember things bit by bit. "You're name is James Buchanan Barnes." He remained silent, keeping his gun pointed at her. That was a good sign. He wasn't shooting her right away. Thunder loomed overhead, Tracey glanced up at the darkening sky before bringing her attention back to her fiancé. "You are Bucky Barnes. A member of the Avengers."

"The Avengers are the enemy," he answered back. "A part of the mission."

"What mission, Bucky? You don't have a mission."

"Stop calling me that," he warned.

"No, I won't. You are Bucky Barnes. My name is Tracey Madison. We are engaged. You are my fiancé," she said, taking a step forward.

"You're lying!" he snapped.

"I'm not!" Tracey argued. "I'm your fiancé. Our wedding is this week," she pleaded. "You have to remember. You're best friend is Steve Rogers. You grew up together. You're an Avenger."

Steve….Tracey… Those names sounded familiar… Why? The Winter Soldier shook his head. He didn't know her or that Steve man. Did he? Something flashed in his mind making him groan in pain as rain started to pour from the sky.

" _Bucky?"_

 _He looked up at the blonde man in front of him. He could feel a shiver run up his spine as he stood in the door way wet from the rain. He almost contemplated running away and back out into the storm outside, but he grounded himself. He had made it this far and he wasn't going to leave. He knew this man and he had answers for him. "I know you…your…your name is Steve…"_

 _He saw the man's shoulders relax before he pulled him into a hug. He didn't know what to do. He still wasn't sure who this man was entirely. He just knew that his name was Steve and that he was supposedly his best friend. That's what his mind told him._

" _Tracey," Steve spoke up, turning to a blonde woman behind him. "Can you grab the extra towels and blankets from the hall closet?"_

" _Yeah," the woman said as she rushed down a hall._

 _The man named Steve led him to a couch and soon the woman named Tracey came back with towels and blankets in her arms. He watched as Steve took one from the woman and wrapped a blanket around his shoulders. It felt warm. He liked it. It was better than the cold he felt currently. It reminded him too much of the cryotube at Hydra. He kept his gaze on his lap even as Steve rubbed a towel over his hair, drying it up. He didn't know what to do. All he could do was try and figure out what to say or if he should say anything._

The soldier gasped, staggering as he tried to register that he wasn't in the memory anymore. At least he thought it was a memory. His eyes landed on the woman in front of him.

"Bucky? Did you remember something?" Tracey knew that look. She knew it from the time he was recovering when he first found Steve. She was praying that's what was happening.

The Winter Soldier only glared at the woman, holding his gun back in place ready to shoot.

"Bucky, please. You have to remember! It's me, Tracey!"

 _He smiled and wrapped his arms around her, kissing her cheek. "Happy birthday, darling."_

 _Tracey smiled brightly and hugged him as tight as she could. "Thank you! Did Barry like his gift?"_

" _Loved it," he chuckled._

" _That's good! Now I don't have to listen to him talk about the game, I'll just be shown how much he loves it," she laughed, rolling her eyes._

 _He laughed with her as he moved his hands to her shoulders. He stood behind her, peering over her shoulder to catch a glimpse of what she was doing on her computer. It looked like that website Pinterest she seems to always be on if she wasn't using her laptop for work. He massaged her shoulders as he scanned the images she was looking at. Recipes, clothes, nature, furniture, animals. The same things she seemed to look at every time. Not that he complained. He loved hearing about the new recipes she found!_

 _He squeezed her shoulders and leaned down to kiss her neck. He smiled when she squirmed, her head and shoulders scrunching together. "Do you want your gift?' he asked, kissing her neck again._

" _If it's you shaving, I'll take it now," she said, squirming and laughing. "Your stubble tickles!" she shrieked._

 _Bucky laughed and rested his head on her shoulder. He kissed her lips before letting her go. He sat at the chair next to her and pulled out the necklace. He watched as her face began to fill with curiosity as he handed her the box. His heart skipped a beat when he saw the shocked look on her face and the gasp that escaped her lips. He broke out into a grin when she smiled up at him. She liked it. Thank God._

" _Oh, Bucky… You didn't have to," she said, running a hand over the charms._

" _Do you like it?" he asked, the smile still on his face._

" _I love it," she said, wrapping her arms around his neck. "Thank you."_

 _Even better. She loved it. "Anything for you, doll," he said, hugging her tightly._

 _He took the box once they separated and took the necklace out. Moving her hair out of the way he placed the jewelry around her neck. He smiled as he looked at the charms resting against her chest. He caught sight of another chain and smiled fondly at the sight of the B and T joining his dog tags._

" _Happy birthday, Tracey," he said, kissing her._

" _I love you, Bucky Barnes. You and the cheesy things you do."_

" _What do you mean cheesy?" he asked, smirking._

" _The B," she said, pointing to the charm._

" _Hey, I have to claim my girl some way," he grinned._

 _She rolled her eyes and kissed him. "I chose to date you," she sighed._

" _Yes, you did," Bucky said, grinning widely at her before kissing her again._

What the fuck was that? What was he seeing? What were these memories? He didn't remember them. Were they his? He saw a man named Steve, just like the woman mentioned, and he saw the woman named Tracey. It seemed he had a life with them. But how? He didn't know them!

"Bucky, you have to remember," the woman spoke up.

The soldier tried to wrack his brain for something, eyes glancing from the woman to the ground and to his gun. He was getting frustrated. He didn't know them! They weren't his memories!

"Bucky, please!" she pleaded.

He snapped and a gunshot rang out followed by a scream coming from the woman. He glared down at the woman as she fell to the ground, clutching her leg as it bled out.

"Bucky!"

"Shut up!" he shouted as rain began to pour. He slammed the butt of his gun into the side of her face, knocking her to the ground further. He threw the weapon down and reached his flesh hand out, snatching the woman up. He glared at her as she stared at him in fear.

"Bucky, please," she pleaded.

His grip on her throat tightened and she let out a gasp as air slowly began to dwindle. "Shut up!" he shouted, slamming his metal fist into her face. "I don't know you!" He threw another punch at her.

She gripped his wrist with her hands, a cold chill going through her arms. She was scared. It was exactly what happened in her dream. Was that why she dreamt it? "Buc-" She couldn't get another word out. Bucky was throwing punch after punch at her. She could feel her face on fire and blood slowly trickling down on one side. Her vision was slowly going in and out, one of her eyes was already swollen shut. Everything was going numb.

"I. Don't. Know. You!" the soldier screamed with every punch. He lifted his arm up once more, but froze as he stared at the woman in his hand.

" _Bucky, this isn't you. You don't work for Hydra!" She gasped when his arm gripped her throat._

" _Where are they?" he demanded._

" _You are James Buchanan Barnes. You are a part of the Avengers. You are Steve Rogers' best friend," she desperately pleaded as she tried to pry his metal arm off her._

The soldier gasped, trying to register what he just saw. What was that? A vision? A memory?

 _He froze when he saw what was in front of him. Tracey was tied to a chair. Her hair was matted to her head and the half of her face was swollen and blood stained it. He rushed over._

" _Tracey?" He gently moved some hair out of her face. He breathed when he saw her move._

" _Bucky?" Tears welled up in her eyes as she saw the soldier in front of her._

 _He nodded, smiling lightly. "It's me, don't worry. You're safe."_

Another memory. What was happening? He was frozen as memories kept flooding his head. He saw him and the blonde woman dancing together. He saw them lying in bed, staring at each other. He saw them with other people around them, laughing and smiling. He saw him kissing her…saying her loved her…

The anger on his face gradually disappeared and grew to one of horror. He stared at the woman in his grip, arm still raised above his head as rain continued to pour down on them. Voices behind him drew his attention away from the woman. To his right he found a crowd of people, all staring in horror at him and the woman. Some people had phones out, pointing at him. He whipped his head back to the woman and gasped at the sight of her. Her face was swollen, her right eye swollen shut. Blood was all over her face, bruises were already forming. She was barely recognizable.

His breathing came out in short, rapid bursts. He dropped the woman, quickly stepping away from her. He knew her, but from where? He stared at his metal hand. Blood was dripping down his fingers to his arm. What had he done?

Taking one last look at the crowd and then the woman he took off. He ran. He had to get away from her. He didn't know who she was, but he knew her and he had hurt her. Possibly killed her. She wasn't moving when he last looked at her. He killed her! He had do! He was a monster. That was all he was good for.

He didn't know who she was, but he knew her…and he loved her from what he remembered.

He had to get away. Far away.

 **I finally did it! I finally reached the scene I've been dying to write! I've had the scene where Bucky beats up Tracey in my head for the longest time! I really hope it turned out well. And I can't believe that this chapter was over 5000 words. That's probably the most I've ever written for just one chapter. And if anyone caught on the flashbacks are from the series. I took two from Winter is Ending and one from Life at the Tower. This whole story I plan on either making up memories or taking some from the series just for the fun of it.**

 **I'm honestly glad I got this done. Finals week is this week and I am currently studying this entire weekend for an exam I have on Monday at 8am. I'm worried about my grade so fingers crossed I pass. I better pass because I missed my grandpa's 80** **th** **birthday, my grandma's second memorial service because she just now got her headstone, and my baby cousin being born today! I've missed a lot, but what can you do about finals?**

 **I really hope you all like it. I would LOVE to see reviews on this, especially to see what you all think of this cliffhanger. I've been dying to get this chapter out so I'd appreciate reviews. So let me know what you think. Whether you liked it or not, I love all reviews, they help the story progress and improve because I know that majority of the time my stories suck. Or that's just me. I mean you are your own worst critic. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed and I'd love to hear what you think.**

 **Thank you all so much and I wish you all luck on your finals week!**


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

It was calm, everything around her was calm. She felt like she was floating, just staying there in the darkness and silence. She felt at peace. It was tranquil. Nothing was bothering her, nothing to worry about, and nothing to keep her on her toes as she had been for the past few weeks. It was a great feeling. She didn't want to leave it.

"…wakes up…"

What was that? A voice? Whose? What were they saying?

"…coffee…"

"…yes please..."

There was a second voice. Who were they?

Tracey struggled to listen to the voices, trying to decipher who was talking. It only caused a strain on her, giving her a bit of a headache. There was another sound: beeping. It was annoying… Where was it coming from?

"Tracey, sweetheart, I'm sorry."

Mom? What was she doing here? Was she crying?

Tracey tried to call out to her, but she couldn't open her mouth. She kept trying and trying and trying, but nothing. Why couldn't she speak? She needed to get to her mom. Now!

She willed her eyes to open, gradually starting to show her surroundings. Only she couldn't see out of one eye. Why was that? The first thing she saw was a white ceiling and a bright light shining down from above her. She quickly shut her eyes, the light stinging them as they adjusted to it. Opening again she took a deep breath, slowly let it out. Where was she? Where was her mom?

She tried to turn her head only to gasp in pain. Her face felt like it was on fire, she could barely move it. Why?

"Tracey?"

Tracey turned her head, slower this time and still wincing nonetheless and found her mom staring at her from a seat next to her. "Mom?" she croaked, her voice hoarse from not being used for God knows how long.

"Hi, sweetheart," her mom said, smiling down at her. She took her daughter's hand in hers, rubbing her thumb against the back of it. "How are you feeling?"

"In pain…" the hacker answered, squinting her eyes in pain as she felt a throbbing coming from her right eye. "Where am I?" She could barely speak, her throat was so dry and scratchy it almost hurt.

"You're in the hospital, Tracey," her mom answered. Smiling lightly at her.

"The hospital?..." Tracey mimicked, trailing off as she turned her head trying to look around. She was in the hospital. She was in one of the many pristine white rooms that had walls blinding her from the bright light. There was a TV on across from her bed showing some car crash on the news. There were monitors next to her bed keeping a steady beat as it tracked her heart; she hated that sound. Turning her head to the right, Tracey found a nightstand full of gifts. There was a bouquet of flowers from Darcy and Jane, a box of her candy from Sharon, and another bouquet of flowers from Clint and Natasha along with handmade cards from Jeremy and Rose. She smiled at the gifts from her family.

"Tracey, sweetheart," her mom spoke up, drawing the blonde's attention from the nightstand. "Do you remember what happened?"

The hacker thought for a moment, her face scrunching up lightly in thought. "I remember…an explosion and Pepper unconscious on the ground…then there was Sin and Crossbones…and…oh God," she breathed and turned her head to stare up at the ceiling, feeling tears starting to form in her eyes. "Bucky…" She gasped, whipping her head to stare at her mother, wincing at the sudden movement. "Mom, he didn't mean it! He was under control! They were controlling him! He would never hurt me!"

"Shh shh, sweetheart, shh," her mom hushed her. "It's okay. Calm down. I don't know what happened, but I know that Bucky cares deeply about you and that he wouldn't hurt you on purpose. Especially not like this."

"Tracey!"

The two women looked over to see Barry and Steve walking into the room. Smiles were on their faces as they stared at the blonde in the hospital bed. Tracey gave them as big of a smile as she could as the two walked up to her.

"How are you feeling?" Barry asked, placing a kiss on his sister's forehead.

"Awful," she groaned. "How long have I been out?"

"About a day," Steve answered, folding his hands in front of him.

"A day?" Tracey exclaimed as she bolted up in her bed only to end up gasping in pain and landing back against her pillow. She stared up at her mom and brother as they placed a hand on each of her arms saying to take it easy. "I've been out for a day?" she rasped.

"Yeah…" Steve said, lowering his head. "Your injuries were severe. You had surgery on your leg to get the bullet out of it."

Tracey's eyes widened at the news, her eyes glancing down at her left leg that she now noticed was laying out on top of the blankets. Her calf was wrapped up in white bandages and she could feel a faint throbbing on it. "He shot me…"

"I know, Trace," Steve said quietly, lowering his head to stare at his feet.

"Steve…" she whispered, her voice sounding broken as she looked up at the super soldier. "Where…where is Bucky?"

Steve looked up at her, his mouth opening and closing as he tried to think of what to say. "Trace…Bucky…he uh…he's gone…"

"What?" she breathed, her eyes widening. "No…" she said, shaking her head. "He's gone?" She stared up at her friend, taking a shaky breath.

"Good."

Everyone looked over to the male Madison twin who had a hard look on his face. Tracey stared at him with wide eyes, not believing what she heard from her twin.

"What?" she whispered.

"I said good," Barry said, a little too calmly. "He nearly killed you, Trace! Why shouldn't I be glad he's missing? At least I know that with him gone you'll be able to actually heal!"

"He's my fiancé!" Tracey argued, glaring at her brother. "How can you say that?"

"Because he nearly killed you!" Barry shouted, fists clenching in his lap. "He nearly killed my twin sister! You think I'm okay with that? I know that he wasn't himself, but I can't just sit here feeling okay with the fact that my sister nearly died!"

"Barry George Madison!" Mrs. Madison scolded.

"What? You can't tell me you're okay with the fact that he almost killed her!" Barry yelled, his brow furrowing.

"I'm not saying I'm happy with the current situation, but you know for a fact that Bucky wasn't in control," his mother argued back. "But right now you yelling at Tracey about him isn't helping. It's only stressing her out! Barry, I think you need to leave for a bit."

Barry stayed silent, looking at his lap for a few minutes before standing up. "Fine."

Tracey watched as her brother stormed out through the door passed Tony, who was standing in the doorway. "Tony?" she spoke, her voice cracking. "Ho-how is Pepper? And the baby?"

"They're fine…" he answered stiffly. "Pepper's going to make a full recovery…the baby…the baby will be fine too. They're both going to be okay."

"I'm glad to hear that," the blonde said, giving the billionaire a small smile.

"Yeah…" he scoffed. "You know…I agree with Barry…"

"You too then?" Steve asked, eyeing his friend and teammate. "You think it's okay that Bucky's missing?"

"Well look what he's done?" Tony stated, throwing a hand up at the TV.

The other three turned their head to the television. On the screen was Christine Everheart making some newscast with the title of "Stark Industries explosion". Footage from what appears to be a civilian's phone was shot of the explosion. Images of Sin, Crossbones, and Bucky were thrown up onto the screen as well. The female reporter was talking about possible theories and why Bucky Barnes was teaming up with criminals like Sin and Crossbones. Another footage appeared, showing footage of Bucky and Tracey. Through the haze from the rain anyone could see Bucky holding Tracey by the throat and slamming his metal fist into her face, punch after punch after punch. Mrs. Madison gasped, looking away from the image and squeezing her daughter's hand.

"He wasn't in control, Tony," Steve spoke up breaking the silence and drawing everyone's attention away from the TV. "You know that."

"I do, but you can't blame me for being pissed off!" Tony yelled. "He nearly killed Tracey and he nearly killed my wife and child!"

Tracey laid there, breathing becoming harder and harder for her as she took in all the words. He was right. Bucky nearly killed her and Pepper and the baby. He had a right to be mad, so did Barry, but they knew it wasn't Bucky's fault! She squeezed her eyes shut, ignoring the pain that was spiking through her face. She did her best to drown out the arguing coming from the two men, but it was impossible. She opened her eyes and stared up at the ceiling with tears pricking them as she tried to calm herself.

"What is going on in here?"

Everyone turned to see a nurse standing in the doorway, her brow furrowed as she stared at the two men in front of her. When did she get here?

"If you're not immediate family you need to leave. Your arguing isn't helping Ms. Madison," she stated, placing her hands on her hips as she looked pointedly at Tony and Steve. "I don't care who you are, you are only making things worse for her and putting stress on her."

It was then that the four heard the accelerated beeping coming from Tracey's heart monitor.

"Sorry, ma'am," Steve apologized. "We'll leave. I'll see you later, Tracey," he said, placing a hand no his friend's shoulder and giving it a squeeze.

"Can you bring some books or something for me?" she asked, smiling lightly at the super soldier.

"Sure thing," Steve replied, returning the smile.

"Tony," Tracey spoke up, catching the scientist before he left the room. "Will you let me know how Pepper's doing later?"

Tony sighed, stuffing his hands in his pockets. "Sure thing, kiddo," he said, not even bothering to turn around and look at her.

Tracey frowned. Her friend and father figure's tense stance didn't go unnoticed. She knew he was worried and stressed. She knew what Tony was like and everything he dealt with. The events that occurred weren't helping his stress and anxiety and as always he was putting on a brave face for the world. However, he let it slip just this once, revealing his true colors and feelings.

The blonde woman took a deep breath and laid her head on her pillow. "Mom…" she whispered, feeling the tears coming once more. She could feel the warm tears sliding down the sides of her face and soaking into her hair and pillow. She wanted this all to be a dream she just did. She didn't want this rift in her family. She didn't want Tony stressed as he was. She didn't want Barry worried more than he usually was. She didn't want her mom to be worried either and taking time out of her life to sit in the hospital with her. She didn't want Steve to be worried about her and his best friend. She didn't want Bucky gone missing, alone and afraid. She didn't want any of this. "What's going to happen now?"

Mrs. Madison pursed her lips and squeezed her daughter's hand. "I don't know, sweetheart…I don't know."

That's what Tracey was afraid of.

 **I finally finished the chapter, but it's a shorter chapter than normal. I hope you all don't mind. I'm posting it now because I won't be on tumblr or here for a while tomorrow. I start work tomorrow at 9-4 so I'll be gone for a long time. I will also be starting summer classes June 1 and with the addition of work I can't guarantee how often I will be updating. I hope you all can understand. But feel free to leave any questions to me, about the story, or to the tower; headcanons; or prompts for Life at the Tower. I am still doing the oneshot series I just haven't had time I'm sorry.**

 **Also for anyone who doesn't have a fanfiction account, don't worry I have guest reviews open if you want to leave a review or something.**

 **I would also like some feedback on the rest of the story. I might end up making the rest of the chapters shorter than usual so let me know if you want them longer chapters than this or don't care how long they are. It'd help me out a lot :)**

 **And one last thing: I've been plotting ideas for the Civil War story after this one and I have so many ideas, but I am having a road block for two scenes. One scene is the airport scene. I'm stuck on what Tracey should do. I have ideas for it, but I'm still a little stuck so if you have any ideas feel free to message me. The other scene is the first post credits scene. I won't go into detail about it for those of you who haven't seen the movie yet so I am just going to say I have a few ways the scene can go. I can either stick to what happens or I can change it up. Let me know what you want to see because I'm conflicted on what I want to do. I like both ideas I have, but I am having the hardest time deciding. Message me what you'd like to see. It would help A LOT.**

 **Anyway, I hope you like the new chapter. Let me know what you think. I appreciate all feedback!**

 **Feel free to check me out on tumblr at winter-is-ending. You can ask the Avengers and Madison twins any questions and I also post a lot of Marvel stuff so if you have a tumblr account feel free to follow me! :)**


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

No…no…no…no… Channel after channel and there was still nothing to watch! Tracey laid her head back on the pillow letting out a loud groan. She was still in the hospital after the attack. It had been two days. Two long days where all she could do was sit in the hospital bed and stare at the wall, stare out the window, or stare at the useless news casts on television. It was the same news every day: Bucky Barnes Traitor to the Avengers. It was the same stuff every day and she wanted out of this damn place. She wanted to be out there looking for Bucky with Steve, Sam, and whoever else was looking.

She groaned once more burying her face in her hands and quickly peaked through her fingers when she heard chuckling. "Hi, guys," she greeted as she moved her hands to running through her hair.

"Getting bored, Trace?" Sam asked with a chuckle as he and Steve walked into the room.

"Just a little," the hacker replied with an eye roll.

Sam grinned at her as he pulled up a chair next to her bed. "So how's hospital life treating you? Has the doctor said when you can leave?"

"In the next day or so…" she said with a huff. She laid her head back and stared up at the ceiling. The next day or so was taking its merry time to arrive. "I would have been out earlier, but they wanted to keep me awake for the first two days because of my concussion."

The slight wince from Steve didn't go unnoticed by Tracey. She had to suppress her own. Just talking about the condition she was in reminded her of Bucky. It reminded her of how scared he probably was, running away from anyone who might be looking for him after the Stark Industries incident. It reminded her that he was always scared of becoming the Winter Soldier again and here they were with him hiding with people believing he was back to his old ways. If he was here right now he'd be beating himself up for hurting her and that hurt more. She hated it when he blamed himself for stuff he couldn't control, especially moments where he relapsed.

She sighed and turned to look out the window for a moment, staring at the buildings across the street from the hospital. It was the same scenery she saw every day now. A moment later she turned back to the two men. "Did you find anything on Bucky?"

Steve hung his head with a sigh of his own. "Nothing," he responded, lifting his head up to look at the blonde woman. "Sam and I just got back from searching a little over an hour ago before coming here. Natasha's looking now."

"Isn't she with Clint and the kids?" the hacker asked, her face scrunching slightly in confusion.

"She said he went with Rose and Jeremy to visit his sister, Laura. Nat went on her own to help us look before she went with them," the super soldier answered.

"She didn't have to go out looking for him if she was already planning on taking that trip with Clint," Tracey said, shaking her head. She appreciated her friend's attempt at looking for Bucky, but she knew that Nat had a family of her own to look after.

"We tried to tell her that," Sam spoke up, leaning back into his chair and crossing his arms over his chest, "but she said she owed you for the time you pulled the files on her off the internet after S.H.I.E.L.D. fell."

The hacker closed her eyes, nodding her head as she remembered the time she joined the team all those years ago. It felt like yesterday she joined the team after Tony hired her to recover the S.H.I.E.L.D. and Hydra files off the internet. It was only two years ago, but it felt like such a short time ago.

"She doesn't owe me anything," the blonde said after a moment. "Nat doesn't owe me anything. I would have done it for any of you."

"We know, but she wanted to do something for you and she knows how much Bucky means to you and Steve," Sam continued. "It's kind of hard to stop Natasha sometimes though."

Steve was the next one to speak as he straightened up. "I'm going to talk to the doctor to figure out when exactly we can get you out of here." He head gave a small smile to the blonde woman in the bed. "I know how you feel about hospitals so we might as well get you out as soon as possible. Before you go crazy," he added at the end before heading out the door.

"Ha ha," Tracey shouted after the super soldier. She rolled her eyes as she turned her head to look at Sam. "What's wrong?" she asked when she saw the look on Sam's face.

The dark skinned man pursed his lips before turning to the hacker. "You remember that Scott guy from headquarters?"

"Yeah what about him?" Tracey asked, quirking a brow.

"I've been looking into him," Sam said, leaning forward in his seat. "I found a guerilla journalist who's known for looking into strange happenings with people. People with powers."

"And?" the blonde asked, sitting up straighter in her bed – well as straight as she could with her injuries. "Did she find anything?"

"Her findings took her all the way to San Francisco. This Ant-Man guy is definitely working with that Hank Pym guy you found the other day. Pym Technologies is located somewhere in San Francisco which is one of our few leads."

"One of? There's more then?"

"Yeah, the journalist found someone who knows this Scott guy. Apparently Scott has a roommate named Luis and the journalist was able to find one of Luis' relatives leading us to him-"

"And thus leading us to Scott," Tracey finished, nodding her head in understanding. "So what now? Does Steve know?"

"No, he doesn't," Sam said, his eyes shifting to the doorway, watching to make sure said super soldier didn't show up. "But what we need to do next is locate him in San Francisco and I need your help." He leaned back and ran a hand down his face. "I need you to run some facial recognitions on Scott and Luis," he continued, handing her a file. "The two were cellmates at San Quentin."

Tracey's eyes narrowed as she examined the information on the two men. There was information on the crimes they committed to get into San Quentin and information on their family. Scott was the man behind the Vistacorp scandal a few years back. He had an ex-wife and a daughter he left behind. Maggie and Cassie Lang. It seemed, compared to Scott, Luis had smaller, pettier crimes. Something involving two smoothie machines and a couple other crimes. Loading these images onto her computer and processing them through the facial recognition wouldn't take long. The information Sam got from the journalist definitely made the process easier than starting from nothing.

"This shouldn't be too hard," she said after a moment. She paused, pursing her lips. She'd have to go to the tower and get her stuff when she got out of here. That would require running into Barry and Tony. She wasn't sure if she wanted to go through that and deal with them. Especially her brother. She was still mad at him. "I have a slight problem with my living situation."

"What's up?" Sam questioned, brow furrowing as he leaned forward once more.

"I don't want to be at the tower and deal with all the drama that's most likely going on there," she replied, leaning back into her pillows and resting her head back. "Barry's not understanding at the moment and neither is Tony, but all my equipment is there."

"Well," Sam said with a chuckle and a smile at the woman, "I can get your stuff if you want. Steve's in a similar situation. He and Tony aren't seeing eye to eye right now and he was planning on looking into an apartment so I offered him one of the extra rooms at my place in Harlem."

"That's nice of you. I'm surprised Sharon didn't offer him to move in with her," Tracey commented before taking a drink from her glass of water that sat on the nightstand.

"She was going to, but she couldn't. Something about going out of town for some CIA business," he said with a wave of his hand. He gave Tracey a pointed look. "I have an extra room if you want to live with Steve and me for a bit. Just until this all blows over."

"Don't want me staying for long?" the hacker teased her teammate.

"Yeah, I don't think I can handle having girlie stuff around my apartment," Sam teased back with a smirk. His smile fell and was replaced with a stern look once again. "I'm being serious, Trace, you can stay with me if you need a place."

"Thanks, Sam," the female Madison twin said, giving the man a small smile. She stacked the papers on her lap and placed them back in the manila envelope and handing it to Sam. "It honestly means a lot."

"I'm always here, Trace," Sam said, offering a smile. A grin soon took its place a second later. "It also gives me an excuse to see your dogs more often." He laughed when he saw Tracey roll her eyes.

"What did I miss?" Steve asked, smiling as he walked back into the room.

"Nothing much. Tracey's moving in with us for a while," Sam answered, looking up at the super soldier.

The blond man nodded his head as he turned to Tracey. "Do you need us to get anything from your floor?"

"You don't have to pack anything of mine, but if you can get Dexter and Aleu and make sure they're being taken care of that'd be great."

"Yeah, no problem, Tracey," Steve said, placing a hand on her shoulder. "The doctor said you can leave in the next few days so we can start packing up when you get out. We'll see you tomorrow."

Sam stood up, patting Tracey on the head. "Get some rest, girl. We'll be needing you ready to go once you're out. I'll bring you your laptop and some more books tomorrow," he said, eyeing the two books stacked on the nightstand. He grabbed them, shaking his head. "How can you read so fast? I don't understand." He continued mumbling about books as he followed Steve out of the hospital room leaving Tracey giggling at them.

The blonde hacker smiled and watched as their figures walked down the hall. She leaned back against her pillows and let out a heavy sigh. No news on Bucky at all from any end. None from Steve or Sam. She wasn't sure on Natasha yet, but most likely there wouldn't be any clues. There was the matter of finding a new place to stay other than the tower or headquarters and she was extremely grateful for Sam to offer her his extra room. It made things easier on her. Then there was the Ant-Man issue. That was two people she had to find: Bucky and Scott.

When had life gotten so chaotic for her? Was it when the chitauri attacked and she discovered her brother working with some secret organization thus meeting the Avengers? Was it after that when Natasha started "hanging" out with her (when really Tracey knew she was trying to get information on her which was scary)? Was it when she was evicted from her apartment and then met Bucky? Or was it after that? With Burnow then Ultron? She couldn't exactly pinpoint the moment when her life became some crazy action packed spy movie and right now she wasn't sure if she still loved living this life or if she wanted out now.

 **First and foremost I am SO sorry for the late update. Once I started my summer vacation I thought I'd find time to write. I thought I'd find inspiration and motivation to write after losing it for so long, but no. I ended up having to take two summer classes that were my two worst subjects (luckily I passed somehow), I had work, and then my computer kept breaking to the point I took it in five times this summer (six just yesterday!). With work and classes I was exhausted by the end of the day and just didn't want to write, along with lack of inspiration. I was depressed to a degree during majority of the summer. But once I was done with summer classes I honestly was so happy that I passed and had started writing again. But then I still had work which took up so much of my time and then I went on vacation. And guess what? I am now heading back to school for my last year in college later today (it's like 12:30 am here) and I am honestly just shocked that out of the three months of summer I haven't updated once and I am so so so sorry for that.**

 **I am honestly not sure who all is reading the series still, but I am thankful for those of you who still are. Your reviews mean the world to me and they make my day. So thank you all so much.**

 **Hopefully I am able to update more this year. I will do my best.**

 **To Tiffy (Guest): I cannot believe you binge read my entire series. When I got the email with your review I had a huge smile on my face. Thank you. And thank you for understanding my delay in updates. It really meant a lot. I hope you enjoyed this chapter.**

 **I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. Let me know what you liked and didn't like. I'd love to know what your thoughts are so leave a review and I hope you all have a wonderful day!**


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

He trudged along through the streets, rain pelting down on him. He pulled his jacket tighter around him and yanked the baseball cap over his head, all attempts to keep him dry pointless. He grunted in annoyance as he weaved his way through an oncoming crowd of business men and women. The quick chatters, banters, and yelling amongst them kept him on edge, kept him on alert. Any one of them could be enemies; any one of them could be HYDRA. Or that Crossbones guy, wherever he was. He could care less. That guy could rot in hell for all he cared. He was the reason he was in this mess: On the run.

He grunted and pulled his coat tighter around him once more. It was done. He had escaped, that's all that mattered. He trekked on, pushing past every person that got in his way. He received some strong words, but he could care less. He just needed to get out of the city. He had to get far away.

The rain continued to pour down on him and everyone else on the street, but as it rained harder and harder less and less people were on the streets until it was him and only a few scattered people racing to their destinations. Not him. He had no destination in mind other than to run.

He walked along, trudging through puddles that added to his already damp figure. The rain mixed with the wind sent shivers down his spine. The cold was creeping through his skin and to his bones. It reminded him too much of cryo. Images flashed through his mind showing his view from inside the cryotube just before the ice creeped along the glass window on the door, before it froze him to sleep.

The sound of sirens broke his thoughts and he froze, standing rigid as he looked around trying to find the source. A moment later a police car came speeding by, splashing up some of the puddles of water eliciting groans of annoyance from people who were hit. As the car raced passed he let out a breath he didn't realize he was holding. He was safe…for now.

He shook his head, his brow furrowing as he pushed forward faster this time. He wanted to escape those memories. He needed to. He needed to leave to escape any of the people looking for him. He needed to leave fast.

ooOOoo

Tracey's face was one of boredom as she leaned forward in her seat, resting her elbows on her knees. She was with Sam in the living room, the two scrolling through channel after channel on the TV. Majority of it was either QVC, sports, the occasional cartoon, or some news reports. Most were for local news with the occasional global news, along with some report on a college student who was attempting to build her own Iron Man suit in her dorm. That last one had peaked the two teammates' interest up until they realized they caught the tail end of the report.

Now here they were back to square one as they searched for something to watch.

The hacker groaned, running her hands up and down her face before running them through her hair. "Why is it that there is nothing on as of late?" she moaned before flopping back in her seat.

"Probably because it's ten in the morning and nothing good is on until noon," Sam offered as he took a drink from his glass of orange juice.

The woman rested her arm on the arm of the chair and leaned her cheek against her fist. With a side eyed glare that said "Really?" she leaned forward and grabbed her own juice from the coffee table. A curse escaped the blonde woman when she accidentally knocked over one of her crutches, toppling it onto her head. "God I hate this…" she mumbled as she rubbed the spot it hit.

Sam snorted into his drink, trying to hide the smile on his face. "You okay there, Trace?"

The blonde woman glanced at the dark skinned man before turning back to grabbing her juice. "It sucks," she grumbled before taking a sip from her drink.

"Yeah, I bet…" Sam said. He continued to watch her as she watched whatever program was on the TV. "It'll get better. It'll take some time, but it will."

Tracey turned her head over towards her friend, meeting his gaze. She chewed her cheek and gave a small nod. "Yeah…"

The two turned their gazes back to the TV where Sam continued surfing through the channels. It was silent amongst the two, the only sound coming from the outside traffic of car horns and squealing tires. The woman leaned her cheek against her fist as she stared at the TV screen, mind utterly bored with the weather report that was on at the moment. Her mind was elsewhere thinking of where her fiancé was and if he was okay. It had been like that for nearly two weeks. Her mind was frazzled and all over the place due to the worry and anxiety of the whole situation. Every day and night she'd pray for him to be safe and unharmed. Even with that in mind it only added onto her anxiety.

At the sound of some slightly intense music playing Tracey turned her head back to the TV to see a new news bulletin starting up. The music was playing over clips from many different news reports floating across the screen. All were from news reports about the Avengers. After the intro was done she and Sam were now staring at the face of Christine Everhart and a man by the name of Will Adams who appeared to be some political figure of some sort.

"From New York to Sokovia we have witnessed a series of catastrophic events that have threatened the safety of the entire planet," Christine began before face was switched out for videos of the Chitauri attack, the D.C. incident, and the attack in Sokovia. Images of people running and screaming from the threats and images of Steve and the other Avengers running around fighting off the threats. "While these crises were resolved as a result of the noble actions of Steve Rogers, Tony Stark, and others, cities like Johannesburg, Seoul, and Washington D.C. are still on the mend due in large part to the tactical response of these heroes."

More images of each event were shown. All were images from either news reporters, helicopter cams, or citizens who had first hand witnessed each travesty. Tracey's breath had hitched when she saw a video recording – from what appeared to be someone's phone – of Bucky when he had attacked D.C. two years ago. She held her breath as she watched and listened to the news reporting. Even more reason to have anxiety now that there were even more news reports on Bucky. Although this time it wasn't just about him, but everyone on the team…

"President Ellis has yet to weigh publicly on the matter, but he recently appointed formerly retired General Thaddeus Ross as Secretary of State," Everhart continued.

"What?" Sam cried out, sitting up at the edge of his seat. His brow was furrowed and his jaw was clenched. "I can't believe he would appoint that guy as Secretary of State! The guy's a prick!"

Tracey nodded her head as she chewed her cheek. She hadn't experienced General Ross' authority first hand, but she had read, seen, and heard reports about the Harlem incident back in 2008. She also knew how Bruce and Betty felt about him after his man hunt for Bruce back then. Betty never liked talking about her dad and Bruce became even quieter just at the mention of the guy. If he was here now he'd be curling in on himself and possibly doing everything he could to not get angry.

Everhart still continued with her report, a slight smile on her face as she spoke. "Joining us from the White House to discuss General Ross' nomination and more is President Ellis." The image quietly went from her to a split screen of the reporter and the president. "Good evening, Mr. President. Thank you so much for joining us I know you are a very busy man."

"My pleasure to be with you," the president greeted.

"Increasing numbers of world leaders are calling for oversight of the Avengers, especially in light of recent events and sensitive data being released to the public. Simply put, what is your position on this?"

"We've experienced a series of grave events that have severe repercussions. I am completely sensitive to the fear and concern that creates, but at the same time I recognize what men like Tony Stark, Steve Rogers, and others have done in the face of these attacks."

"Uh, Mr. President, Will Adams here," cut in the political figure from earlier, "I definitely agree with you. Their actions have exemplified valor and self-sacrifice. Isn't it essential that our heroes be able to maintain their independence?"

"Uh yeah!" Sam shouted, throwing his hands in the air. He was getting worked up over the report and Tracey couldn't blame him.

"Well my appreciation for their efforts shouldn't be misconstrued as a blank check," President Ellis replied. "The Avengers need to collaborate with governments around the globe. That's why my administration is exploring ways to create an official relationship with these heroes."

"Are you hoping that as Secretary of State General Ross would be able to facilitate these negotiations?" Everhart but in.

"The General is no stranger to these types of incidents and he has long standing relationships with many of these heroes," President Ellis answered.

"If you mean hunting down a man who is terrified of his own abilities as a relationship, then yeah he definitely does," Tracey mumbled as she leaned back in her seat and folded her arms over her chest.

"And was instrumental in spearheading the response to the emergencies at both Culver University and Harlem. He served this country with distinction for several decades. And I believe he can work with our allies abroad and alongside these heroes."

"We're certainly all waiting for what the outcome will be. Thank you very much for joining us, Mr. President," Christine Everhart said to the president.

"Thank you and God bless America," the president signed off with.

"I wouldn't mind hearing from our heroes directly," Adams said as soon as the president was off air. "They're the ones who have seen firsthand what government oversight can lead to."

"I can't believe I'm about to say this, but I totally agree with you," Christine said, nodding her head.

Tracey and Sam stared at the TV as the report finished up. It was silent between the two as the slowly registered the report.

There were still some people on the heroes' side, but there were some who were and wanted keep them kept in line. Something like that was always easier said than done. It would take a whole army to get Steve (even Tony who had a track record of disagreeing with the government) to agree to these terms.

"This is getting worse by the day," Sam finally spoke out, drawing his friend out of her thoughts.

Tracey looked over at him, slightly nodding her head. "Yeah. Think Steve's seen the report?"

"Probably," the Falcon replied. "He's probably even more pissed than we are."

It was silent again as Tracey stared at her hands in her lap. It was getting out of hand. People were scared and people were arguing. Information from S.H.I.E.L.D. and HYDRA were back out into the open thanks to Ultron. All her hard work to keep those files and information on her teammates out of the public's eye was all for not.

She sighed as she rested her head on the back of her seat and stared up at the whirling ceiling fan. "Things aren't going to get better. The public and the government are getting more worked up with each day. Who knows what will happen next."

Sam turned his head to look at the blonde. He nodded his head lightly before placing his hands on his knees, pushing himself up off the chair. "Come on," he said, holding out a hand.

Tracey stared at the proffered hand before looking up at him. "What are you doing?" she asked, taking his hand. She grunted as she tried to stand on her one good leg.

Sam helped her with her crutches. "Killing two birds with one stone," he said with a slight grin.

The hacker raised a brow in question at him. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"I'm distracting you and getting some things done. You and I have some unfinished business," he simply stated. "Get your computer. We have someone to look for."

Tracey blinked as she watched the man walk out of the room, but quickly hobbled on her crutches after him.

 **I'm sorry for the late update. School has been busy and somethings in my life have been hectic with drama that I want to end. I am doing my best to get this story finished. It might be a few more chapters. I'm not sure yet, I still have a few ideas I want to get to. I will do my best to update this story and keep up with Life at the Tower. I am really sorry for the lack of activity.**

 **The news cast was actually from a YouTube video that was some sort of promo for Civil War. I thought it fit perfectly for this chapter and basically what's happening in the story.**

 **If you have any questions for me feel free to send me a PM or visit my tumblr at winter-is-ending.**

 **I'd love to hear what you guys thought of the chapter so leave a review and let me know your reactions and thoughts!**


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

Her eyes followed Pietro's movements as he bounced up and down. The white-haired man was grinning as he stood in the middle of the room and the other three were watching as the speedster beamed with excitement. It was like watching a kid with ADHD after they ate sugar. He would soon be bouncing off the walls if they didn't say anything to him.

"Pietro," Wanda called out, eyeing her twin brother. "Sit still. We are still discussing the plan." She shook her head as she watched her brother's grin increase. He could never sit still.

"What is there to plan?" the speedster asked with a small shrug. "We go. We talk to the man. We bring him back with us."

"It's not that simple," Tracey said, leaning against one of her crutches. "We don't know where he is yet – I'm still looking – and we can't guarantee he'll come with us. We have to be careful with how we do this."

"Yes, yes," Pietro said, waving his hand dismissively. "We will be careful. It can't be that hard to find him."

Tracey stared at the male Maximoff twin as he started animatedly talking with Sam and Wanda. She turned her gaze to look out the floor to ceiling window and looked down at the city below them. It was raining right now – had been for the past two days – and she could see the crowd that polluted the sidewalks. People walking at a brisk pace as they tried to get to where they were going; their open umbrellas creating a black river that moved along the streets and sidewalks.

She sighed as she shifted to lean a little more against one of the crutches she had. She and Sam had left his apartment to meet up with the Maximoffs for this small mission and now they were on the top floor of the tower. It was agreed on to meet here so that they wouldn't run into anyone while everyone else was at the compound.

Scraping brought the blonde's attention back to the group and away from her thoughts. She looked over and saw Sam pulling a chair over towards her.

"You really shouldn't be standing on that leg for long," he explained. He placed the chair next to her and placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Right," Tracey said, placing the crutches so they were leaning against the chair. "Thank you." She slowly lowered herself into the chair with the help from Sam.

"No problem," Sam said, offering her a smile. It dropped as he stood up straighter and folded his arms across his chest. "A contact of mine just came through. Says our guy's in San Francisco."

The hacker looked up at her friend with furrowed brows. "I've been looking for this guy for thirty minutes and you didn't think to tell me you had someone out there looking for him. Let alone that they already found him?"

"Forgot I asked her, sorry," the dark-skinned man replied. He gave a grin when the blonde woman rolled her eyes. "She found someone who knows one of his friends."

"So, San Francisco?" Wanda questioned, tilting her head as she leaned back onto one of her legs. "When do we leave?"

"Today if we can. We'll take one of the quinjets," Sam answered. He turned to look at Pietro, who was now standing a little calmer, but was still bouncing on the balls of his feet, and raised a brow at the young man. "If that's soon enough for you, Speedy."

"Depends how fast you can fly, Bird Man," the white-haired man said with a grin at his teammate.

Sam chuckled and turned back to Tracey. "If you can just run him under your face recognition program and figure out his address that'd be great. My contact only found his friend, she couldn't get more out of him."

"That's fine by me," the blonde replied, leaning back into her seat. "Now that we know he's in San Francisco I can narrow my search down. Makes my job a little easier."

"What job? Hacking nuclear codes?"

The group turned around and immediately went silent as they watched Tony and Barry walk off the elevator. The bearded man stared at the group with a look of suspicion while the male Madison twin pursed his lips as he looked from one person to the next. That's when he made eye contact with his twin. They hadn't spoken since their fight in the hospital.

"Tracey," Barry said curtly.

Tracey looked to her brother, her lips pursed tightly. She didn't want to see him, not after how he acted at the hospital. She was sure he was still mad about what happened with Bucky and that was something she had been doing everything in her power to avoid. That's why she had moved in with Sam. She needed space away from Barry and Tony. The two were beyond mad after the incident at the Stark Industries meeting. Tony was mad about Pepper's and their unborn baby's safety and Barry was mad about Tracey's safety.

She understood her brother's concerns, she did, but that did not mean she agreed with him and how he was mad at something Bucky had no control over. He has known the super soldier for nearly three years now and after the number of relapses he's had over those years now he was mad about him relapsing?

"Barry," she responded just as curtly before turning her gaze away.

"So, what are you four doing here?" Tony asked, eyeing them all.

"You are always saying we are welcome to come and go," Pietro said, folding his arms over his chest. "Is now not a good time?" He was standing still now and had a hard look on his face. Just as everyone else, he had heard about what happened and he was more on Steve's side.

He and Wanda had agreed that it wasn't the super soldier's fault. It was HYDRA's. They knew firsthand what HYDRA was capable of and their utter disregard for the person that was left behind.

"What he means is that we came to take a break from the compound," Wanda spoke up, her face unreadable. "I've been feeling under the weather lately. Headaches mostly and the noise at the compound wasn't helping."

"You have a room there," Tony point out. "Sound proof even."

"Still, it is much quieter here," she said simply.

"Gotcha." Tony turned to Tracey and raised a brow. "How's the leg?"

The blonde closed her eyes for a moment and took a breath before turning to face her friend. "It's fine."

"You sure?" Barry scoffed. He headed towards the kitchen where he opened the fridge, the light from inside illuminating his features. "Looks like you can't stand on it." He didn't even bother to look up from his search for a snack.

"Well maybe you should try using crutches then we'll see how you like walking on one foot," Tracey snapped.

"Been there," he said, pulling out an apple. He took a bite as he closed the door and stared at his sister. "Multiple times," he added with apple in his mouth muffling his voice. "Not that bad after the first time. But then you'd probably end up with them again anyway, so you'll find out all about it."

The female twin's face scrunched up in anger as she whipped her head around to stare at her brother as he leaned against one of the counters. He continued to munch on his apple, acting almost oblivious to his sister's temper. But he knew.

"And what is that supposed to mean?" his sister demanded.

"Well, historically speaking, people who chase the Winter Soldier end up in a lot of pain," he said, tilting his chin up in a challenging manner. "Just like the last time."

"Don't you dare say that!" she snarled. She had jumped up from her seat nearly forgetting she couldn't use her leg. A sharp pain from the bullet wound caused her to visibly wince and if it wasn't for Sam grabbing her arm and Pietro rushing to her other side she would have fallen over. She shrugged off Sam's comment about taking it easy as she glared at her brother. "You know damn well it wasn't his fault."

"Do I?" Barry shot back. "Because honestly, Trace, I can't stop questioning if his mind is really recovered." He matched his sister's glare and watched as her eyes widened at his words. "I haven't said anything because I know you love him, but…I'm just not sure how I feel about him, even now. What exactly goes on in his head? We don't know! He says one thing, but how can we trust him when he snaps in a second if he gets mad? The number of times he's hurt someone during one of his 'relapses' is too many to count."

"Barry, you need to shut up right now," his sister warned, her grip on Sam's arm tightening causing the poor man to wince slightly.

Barry's face grew angrier. "Why?" the agent shouted. "Why should I shut up? I have a right to speak! And I'm going to say what I think! I've been quiet for years, trying to convince myself he's fine, you'll be fine – even when he puts you in the hospital over and over again. How many times does he have to hurt you before you realize that this is always how it's going to end? How many times will he snap before he kills you?"

"Shut up!" Tracey shouted.

"He's too dangerous, Tracey! When are you going to see that?"

"Stop it!" Tracey screamed. She glared at her brother, tears forming in her eyes. Fighting hard to keep them from falling she slowly tried to calm down her heart. "What right do you have to say any of that? What right do you have to say that it's all Bucky's fault. You don't know what he's been through. None of us do. Not me. Not you. Not even Steve. No one. No matter what you say I'm not going to stop until I find him."

"Tracey, I'm only saying this because I care about you," Barry shot back.

The female twin let out a harsh laugh. "Yeah right. This isn't you trying to care about me. This is you trying to control me. Ever since I started joining the team on missions two years ago you have been doing everything to make sure I either didn't go on a mission that was too dangerous or making sure I didn't get in a fight." She clenched her fist, her brow furrowing even more. "I don't care what you say or what might happen to me. I'm not going to stop until I find him."

A scoff came from the right causing all heads to turn to see Tony.

"You go right ahead, Princess," Tony said with a shake of his head. "I'll be sure to keep Barry here in good shape until he decides to come and get him."

"What was that, Tony?"

"I'm just saying yours wouldn't be the only family he's ripped apart."

"Care to repeat that?" came a new voice.

Everyone turned to see Steve coming through the door to the stairway. His face was hard as he glared at the scientist in front of him.

"Yeah, I will," Tony said, standing up straighter to match the super soldier's stance. "Like I said, Tracey isn't the only one who's family he'll rip apart. He nearly killed my wife and my son!"

"You know good and well that wasn't his fault!" Steve said, pointing a finger at his friend.

"How do we know that?" Barry shouted. "It's like I just said to Tracey, how do we even know he's completely recovered?"

"We need to go," Sam whispered to Tracey. "Now."

Tracey stared at the three fighting men, taking a couple deep breaths before looking down at her feet. "Alright."

The four quietly snuck out of the floor, Pietro and Sam helping Tracey make a speedy escape on her crutches. Even as the elevator's doors closed they could hear the muffled sounds of the men arguing.

Tracey stared down at her feet as she drowned out the sounds of the argument and her friends beside her discussing their next move. The words Barry had yelled at her were still ringing in her head.

It was all a lie. Bucky was recovered and he wasn't planning on tearing apart his family. He was scared at the moment, that's what it was. The super soldier was on the run because he was scared. He was recovering all over again. That's why they needed to find him soon.

ooOOoo

They stared up at the apartment building in front of them. Looking at it made the group question if this was the actual place he lived in. It wasn't the sort of place you'd expect a supposed hero to live, but then again everyone on the team had come from various homes and locations. They had two teammates who were on ice for decades!

The place was stuck in the middle of a whole block of ramshackle apartment buildings, hidden under a sign advertising the Milgrom Hotel and several layers of graffiti. It wasn't the sort of place the Avengers frequented, or any kind of place Tracey would want to live in.

As they walked into the lobby (if that's what they could call it) the group stared up the set of stairs that wound up to each floor. They looked to the left to see a maintenance worker knelt down next to the elevator. The button pad was pulled off and wires were hanging out as the man worked with the different colored strands. Sam, Pietro and Wanda turned their attention from the out of order elevator to their friend with the crutches.

Tracey chewed her cheek before closing her eyes and taking a deep, deep breath. "Of course…"

"Are we sure this is the right place?" Wanda asked.

"I'm pretty sure," Sam said, gazing around the lobby once more. "Nice place, huh?"

"It's worse than the apartment I lived in before moving into the tower," Tracey commented. "Even more worse because of the broken elevator. How am I going to get up these? It'll take me at least two hours."

"Oh come on, two hours?" Sam asked, raising a brow at the blonde.

"You know what I mean!" she said, rolling her eyes.

"Wait here," Pietro said. In a gust of wind that blew the girls' hair in their faces and Sam's shirt, he disappeared up the stairs. Out of the corner of her eye, Tracey saw Wanda shake her head. He was back in a matter of seconds, grinning.

"Good news! I found the room!" he declared.

"Well of course you did," Wanda said, folding her arms. "Tracey found the room number."

"Yes, but I heard people inside," the speedster said matter-of-factly. "So we know he's there."

"Well that's good then," Sam said, nodding his head. He turned to Tracey. "You ready to head up? I can help if you need it."

"No worries, Bird Man," Pietro said. In a split second he had moved and Tracey was now in his arms. "I'll carry her up there."

"It will be faster," Tracey said with a small laugh. "We'll meet you guys up there," she said to Sam and Wanda.

The blonde woman felt wind rushing around her a second later. She had yet to have Pietro carry her so the sudden rush caused a bit of dizziness leaving the already immobile woman teetering on her one good leg when they reached the top.

"Yeah, I'm not going to get used to that any time soon," she commented as she held her head.

"Sorry about that. I forget how it affects people sometimes," Pietro replied, placing a hand on her shoulder to help steady her.

"Get my crutches and I'll forgive you?" she suggested, hopping over to the wall with the help of his shoulder.

He grinned and disappeared, returning a moment later with her misplaced crutches. "I assume this means I am forgiven when I have to help you down again too," he said as he passed them over.

"Oh god." Tracey's eyes went to the stairs, suddenly remembering she was three floors up in a building with no elevator. "I guess so," she agreed reluctantly. His smile made her regret it almost immediately.

"Should we go in?" he asked almost immediately.

"No," the hacker said, shaking her head as she adjusted her crutches. She looked up at the door before turning to the white haired man. "We knock and pray someone is home."

Pietro nodded as he followed the blonde towards the door. The two stared at it for a moment in silence, straining their ears to try and see if they hear anything from the other side. Unfortunately, they didn't hear anything.

 _They're either really quiet or that party down below is really loud_ , Tracey thought as she shifted her right hand off her crutch. "Here goes nothing," she said as she raised her hand and knocked.

Footsteps behind them alerted the two of them to newcomers on the stairwell. "They home?" Sam asked as he and Wanda approached their teammates.

"If they are, they're taking too long to answer their door," Pietro grumbled. Wanda hit his arm lightly in reprimand.

There was a crash behind the door, drawing their attention, and finally the door opened - only the man who greeted them was not Scott Lang, but a short Hispanic man that stared at them suspiciously for a full five seconds before opening his mouth to speak.

Pietro (of course) beat him to it. "Is Scott here?"

The man's brows almost met his hairline when he heard the name and took a step to the side, blocking the doorway further. "Well uh that," he finally spoke, "that depends on what Scott you are looking for and if it's the same Scott you are thinking lives here."

Sam rolled his eyes. Was every person who worked with this Scott guy bad at this superhero thing? "Does the name Scott Lang ring any bells?" he finally asked, folding his arms over his chest. He was not here to play any games.

Doorway man crossed his arms in an attempt to look as intimidating as Sam. "Why you looking for this Scott guy anyway?"

Tracey grit her teeth in frustration. "Look, we know he lives here. I've run enough facial recognitions to know he's either with Hank Pym, his daughter, or...you." She gave a strong look to the man, no trace of humor as she felt the dull throbbing of her leg. "Now," she said, taking a slight inhale, "you can tell me where he is or we can start looking for him somewhere else. And frankly I'd rather not continue walking." She wiggled her crutches as a gesture towards her leg.

"We are sorry, but we do not know this Scott Lang," an accented voice called out from behind the man in the doorway.

"Is that right, man?" Sam called out, standing on the balls of his feet to peer over the Hispanic man. He turned his attention back to him. "You gonna let us in?"

"Uh well you see uh…" doorway man stuttered as he glanced from each person in front of him to over his shoulder. "I can't do that," he said at last, turning back to the group.

Rolling his eyes, Pietro took one step and was gone and the man in the doorway was bowled down and pushed out of the way. Turning around he found the white-haired speedster behind him and standing in the middle of the living room eating a waffle.

"I think you can let us in," he said through a mouthful of waffle.

Tracey, Wanda and Sam looked into the room where Pietro stood and saw two stunned men sitting on a worn-out couch. The three looked to the doorway man expectantly.

"Uh…" doorway man said, looking from the group to Pietro and back. "Yeah about that uh you see…"

"You're gonna let us in now," Sam said, walking passed the doorway man as he led Tracey through into the apartment.

"Um yeah okay…" the man said as he slowly closed the door once Wanda was in. He looked at the new comers before looking at his two friends silently pleading for help.

A dark-skinned male on the couch looked at the group and raised a brow. "Who are y'all?"

"Oh no," Sam said, shaking his head and crossing his arms over his chest, "Y'all are going to answer our questions."

"And why should we?" the man with the accent asked, sitting up straighter in his seat. He pushed his computer up his lap as he straightened out, tilting the lid closed ever so slightly to get a comfier position. "We have already told you, we do not know this Scott man."

Tracey huffed a frustrated sigh. "Pietro, can you get me his computer please?"

With a smirk, the speedster complied, zipping across the room and replacing the laptop in couch man's hands with a waffle. "For you," he said in a ridiculously sweet voice, dropping it into Tracey's hands.

"Thank you," she replied in the same kind of voice, juggling her crutches and the laptop.

The accented man looked at the waffle in his hand, then his computer and back to the waffle while his friend next to him jumped back in his seat nearly curling up into himself. He tossed the waffle onto the coffee table before standing up. He pointed at Pietro, hand slightly shaking. "That-that was witchcraft!"

"I can show you witch craft," Wanda said, stepping forward before Sam placed a hand on her shoulder stopping her in her tracks.

"You all witches? Luis, you angered witches!" He threw his hands in the air, and continued on in some other language, babbling away madly.

The guy still on the couch uncurled enough to smack him hard on the arm. "Shut up man, you're not makin' it any better!"

Sam rolled his eyes. "We're not witches," he announced loudly, silencing the room. Wanda muttered something under her breath in Sokovian, and Pietro snorted. They quieted under the Falcon's gaze.

The accented man took a tentative step forward. "You not witches?" he repeated.

"Yes," Tracey replied. "We're just looking for the Scott guy we have been talking about."

"And how you plan to do that with my computer?" he asked.

The blonde hacker gave him a befuddled look. "Well I'm going to turn it on, and then I'm going to go through your files."

The man scoffed lightly. "I have it highly secured, no one can get in i-"

"I'm in," Tracey announced. She giggled lightly. "I've always wanted to say that."

Sam smirked and rolled his eyes at her. "Alright, Miss Hacker, get going."

"Yeah, yeah," she said, bumping shoulders with him. She turned her attention back to the computer, eyes roaming the screen. "1.90 GHz Core Processor with an 800 GB hard drive and 8GB RAM. Not bad. You have a pretty decent computer here."

"Dude," the man on the couch whispered to the accented man, "I think she's a hacker too."

The accented man ignored his friend and addressed Tracey. "So you know about computers, but I still have my files secured."

"Eh," Sam called out, raising a hand to stop the man from talking more. "Don't question her."

"You said you don't know Scott Lang, right?" Tracey asked.

"Yeah, that's right," Luis replied, a little too fast. "No Scott Lang's here. Never heard of him."

"Then why do you have a picture of him with his daughter and you three?" she asked, turning the computer around to show a picture of the three men with Scott and a little girl standing outside somewhere.

"Don't know Scott, huh?" Wanda said, folding her arms across her chest and raising a brow at the men. "It looks like you do."

The accented man nodded his head slowly as he looked at his computer. "Pretty lady knows what she is doing," he said offhandedly.

"Oh that," the doorway man, who was apparently named Luis, said while rubbing the back of his neck. "Well um you see what had happened was we was walking home after a really nice lunch at that diner down on Union Street - which has this really nice summer salad with strawberries and stuff because I like strawberries and it was really refreshing - when we saw him and his daughter and I was like 'Yo, isn't that the Antman guy from the news?" - because there was this whole Pym Tech situation that happened a few months back that was all over the news and stuff. So I said to them we have to get a picture with him. Then his daughter wanted to be in the picture too and I mean how can you say no to that little angel's face. And yeah, that's how we got a picture with him and his daughter."

The whole time Luis spoke the four teammates kept looking between themselves all sharing looks of confusion. "You know Antman's identity was never made public, right?" Sam pointed out slowly.

The three amigos stared at him.

"Shit," Luis swore under his breath.

"Shit is right," Sam said, crossing his arms over his chest. "You goin' to start answering our questions now or what?"

"Well...uh you see that's uh…" Luis stuttered just as the door to the apartment opened behind the group.

All heads turned to the doorway to the sight of a little brown haired girl giggling as she raced into the room. She stopped when she saw the new faces in front of her and gave a quizzical look at them all. Right behind her was a man with dark hair with a bright pink backpack on one shoulder and an equally pink princess duffel bag in the other hand.

"Hey, guys," the man said as he entered the room. "I brought Cassie…" He trailed off as he made eye contact with the group of newcomers. That's when his eyes landed on Sam and they bugged out. "Uh hey uh man."

"Sup, Tic Tac," the brown skinned man said with a nod. "How you been?"

"Uh I'm good, Falcon, sir," the man replied as he placed the duffel bag down and handed the little girl the backpack.

"Daddy," she asked, looking up at her dad. "Are these new friends?"

"Wait wait wait!" Luis said, waving his hands. "Falcon? As in _the_ Falcon? As in the Falcon with the cool jet pack thing?"

"It's not a jet pack," Sam muttered as he eyed Luis.

"I think you have a fan," Pietro leaned over to whisper to his teammate, a large grin on his face. He glanced over at the coffee table and in a gush of wind he disappeared from his spot only to reappear a split second later with the earlier discarded waffle in his hand. He took a bite and chewed happily, a large smile on his face.

Luis' face lit up with realization as he looked at Pietro. "You're that super fast dude like Speedy Gonzalez. That Silverquick uh Quicksilver dude!" He looked at Wanda next, who shifted from one foot to the other. "And you're his sister, that red witch chick."

"Scarlet Witch," Wanda corrected gently, with a bit of irritation in her voice.

"Yeah that's right! Scarlet Witch!" Luis turned to Tracey next and his smile faltered a little. "Who are you?"

"The woman who would love a chair so she doesn't have to stand on her bad leg any longer," Tracey answered, her face scrunching up in a wince as she shifted her leg. She wasn't exactly supposed to be standing on it for long periods of time, but with everything happening she wasn't exactly going to be following a lot of rules.

"I've got it!" the little girl piped up and rushed to the kitchen table. The chair scraped against the wooden floor as the young girl dragged it to the hacker. "Here you go!" She gave Tracey a bright smile as she presented the wooden chair to her.

"Thank you, sweetie," the blonde woman said, smiling warmly down at the child. She gave a sigh of relief when she finally sat down. At the rate this was taking they would have to take a lot of time to talk with Scott and knowing his three friends they'd probably be asking a lot of questions during it all.

"I'm Cassie!" the brown-haired girl greeted as she stood in front of Tracey. "You have really pretty hair!"

"Thank you, Cassie! You have a really pretty smile," Tracey said, her smile growing as the little girl's smile grew showing off a few missing baby teeth. "I'm Tracey."

"Tracey Madison!" Luis cried out the hacker's attention brought back to him. "That's it! You're the fiancée to that crazy metal arm guy."

"His name is Bucky," she spoke, her eyes growing dark as she stared at the Hispanic man.

"Yeah, yeah Bucky Barnes," he continued. "Wasn't he the one who beat you up a couple weeks back."

"Luis," Scott spoke up glancing between his friend and the blonde woman. "I'd suggest you stop talking now."

"Good call," Wanda stated as she walked over to Tracey and Cassie. She grabbed a chair from the table as well and pulled it over to her friend. With a quick glance at the blonde woman, the superpowered girl could see anger flashing through her eyes as she glared over at Luis. She placed a comforting hand on her friend's shoulder before her attention was brought to the smiling seven-year-old.

"Can I show you my dolls?" she asked the two women eagerly.

"I would love to see them," Wanda said with a smile before Cassie dug through her backpack she had placed on the ground.

"This one," she said, pulling out a dark-haired Barbie doll, whose hair had seen better days, "is Emma. She's a doctor!"

"She's so pretty," Wanda said as Cassie handed the doll to her.

"And this one," she said, pulling out a terrifying looking rabbit with sharp teeth and red eyes, "is Bobba Fett. He's my favorite. Daddy got me him for my birthday."

"Oh, he's very cool," Tracey said as the rabbit was placed in her hands. "And he's Bobba Fett, like from Star Wars?"

"Uh huh!" Cassie nodded fervently. "I love Star Wars. I want to be a Jedi!"

Scott smiled over at his daughter as she played with the women before looking back to Sam. "So uh…" he began, rubbing the back of his neck. "Why are you all here?"

"We wanted to talk with you," Sam said, folding his hands over his chest.

"Look if it's about what happened," Scott started before Sam held his hand up to stop him.

"That won't happen again," he simply said. "No, what we're here for isn't to do with that. We just want to talk."

"Oh...right. Well uh have a seat then," he said as he walked over to the couch where Kurt was sitting with Luis.

Sam and Pietro followed, taking seats in two of the armchairs. Pietro happily munched on his waffle as he gave glances at Dave and Kurt, who continued to eye him in a mix of horror and awe.

"So, what is it you want to talk about?"

"Well let's see," Sam sighed as he leaned back into his chair.

 **I am so so sorry for the late update. This year has been my senior year of college which required** _ **a lot**_ **of time from me. I have been busy with sorority stuff, getting ready for graduation and finding an internship for my last class. I finally have an internship which I will be starting in the fall. I will possibly have more time to write with it since it's one class, but I cannot guarantee that at all. It is a 9 hour credit class that will have 2-3 papers I will need to write. After that I will be done with college and will be graduating in December. I am not sure how often I will be updating this story or the series in general. It makes me sad to think that my time with fanfiction might be done soon, but I am getting older and I have a lot of work ahead of me so I hope you all understand. If I am lucky I will be able to keep up with updating, but that also doesn't guarantee constant updates. If I am able to I will update whenever I can so don't expect a consistent updating schedule. I hope you all understand. It's been such a great adventure/few years with the Winter series that I hope to finish it at some point, but that is not guaranteed.**

 **I hope you all enjoyed the chapter. It took me nearly a year to update, but maybe half a year to work on this chapter. I cannot remember when I started on this chapter, but it's taken me a long lone time. I've had inspiration for it and constantly lost it. If it wasn't for herebesparrows (tumblr)/Just a Little Birdie (fanfiction) I would never have finished this. I normally don't work on chapters with people, but Em has helped me so much with this chapter, she has helped write some parts of it. I cannot thank her enough, but to just say please check out her stories. She has a Clint and sidekick OC series that has a bit of Pietro/OC in it and the pairing is great. Her writing is INCREDIBLE! I wish I could write like her so please go check her out!**

 **I again am sorry for the late update and I hope to continue this series. But for now don't expect constant updates. I am planning on working on a Life at the Tower prompt someone sent me last month that (in all honesty) has been in my head long before the anon sent me the prompt. So hopefully that will be up at some point. This summer I have summer class, planning on working, and have a wedding to go to. I hope to keep up with writing. I can't promise a lot of writing so please be patient with me. I am not sure who is still reading this, but I hope that you stick through and stay with the series.**

 **If you want to find me anywhere else you can check me out at** winter-is-ending **where I do the occasional ask the Avengers and Madison twins stuff so send any questions you have to there. I also started a blog where it's a sort of twitter thing called** onlywiththeavengers **. If you have any funny twitter ideas for people dealing with the avengers, send them to that blog or just feel free to scroll through.**

 **Last thing I want to say is that I am possibly doing a story for The Hobbit with Kili/OC story line. I have had this idea in my head for a while so it might appear at some point. If you like The Hobbit I hope you give my story a chance when/if I post it.**

 **Thank you all for the support. I hope you enjoyed the chapter and I hope you understand the possibly slow updates. Thank you!**


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

Icy wind blew through the streets, curving around buildings so that an unsuspecting pedestrian would be blasted by it as they turned a corner. But that was to be expected during late November in a city like DC. Snowflakes floated every which way as the wind whipped through the city. White blankets covered the tops of buildings, trees, parked cars, everything! It made for a beautiful scenery until you look up at the wet streets and sidewalks that only seemed to melt the snow as cars drove by and people stepped to and fro.

The weather may make a (somewhat) beautiful scene, but it didn't help the mood of those traveling by foot. Most people hurried along as they tried to reach their destination where it would be warm and others just trudged along, too tired to move any faster and others enjoying the snow.

Others just didn't care what the weather was like.

Brow furrowed and hands stuffed into the worn-out jacket, he lowered his head as he made his way down the familiar street. People passed by, some avoiding him; others in a rush and shoving past him. He'd send glares to those few every now and then, especially when one bumped into him spilling searing hot coffee down his front. But it didn't matter. He had to get to where he needed to be.

With a sigh, he pushed onward.

The street he was on was too familiar. Not a comfortable familiar, but one that put him on edge. Flashes of a car driving towards him and an explosion swept through his mind. Next thing he knows, the car is flipped upside down and he's storming towards it.

He quickly shook it off as goosebumps formed on his skin. He huddled further into his jacket. He wasn't sure what that image was, all it did was create an unsettling feeling in the pit of his stomach. Was it guilt? Or was it that hot dog he scarfed down moments ago?

He didn't have time to question what was making his stomach turn, he had to get to Point B which was just a block away.

Pushing forward he continued down the street, once again shoving past people, until he finally a location that looked (once again) familiar to him. He knew he had been here before and a sense of deja vu washed over him as he made his way to the building and through the entrance. He had tensed as he walked through the metal detector, but relaxed when they didn't go off. It was one of the few times he was grateful for one of the functions of his left arm.

He remembered HYDRA had made the arm so that it would never be detected in anything such as metal detectors when on missions and he could remember the goateed man improving the function when tinkering with it every now and then.

His eyes grew hard as he remembered the man. He couldn't think of his name; it was on the tip of his tongue, but he just couldn't think of it. It didn't matter, he quickly shook it off as he made his way through the new crowd of people in the building, making his way to his destination. He could vaguely remember being here at some point in the past, doing the same thing he is doing right now.

He needed facts. He needed proof of some sort. He needed to remember.

Looking around him he saw many exhibits showcasing things from the past from artifacts to paintings. However, he wasn't here for any of that. He was here for something else. He headed down a hall and was soon met with an even larger crowd of people in a room that had blue and grey walls. The room was filled with chatter from the patrons as they went to and fro from one exhibit piece to the next.

He slowly made his way through the dimly lit area, his eyes scanning every picture and doing his best to soak up all the information he could. He stopped at a video that showed a blond-haired man standing next to a dark-haired man, the two laughing to an unheard joke between them. This only made him furrow his brow.

He ventured further. The majority of the exhibit was about the blond man in red, white, and blue. Captain America. Steve Rogers. The man from the bridge. The man from the streets those few months ago.

It wasn't until he came upon a wall of glass in the middle of the room where he stopped for the longest time. The wall had paragraphs of information going down it and at the top left of it all was a large image of the brown-haired man from the video earlier. The man had a stoic look on his face as he stared off into the distance. This man had the face of youth and not the worn and tired face of someone who had been through and seen too much.

He took a deep breath as he stared at the image of the man. He had his face, but for the life of him he couldn't remember being that man. Flashes of him with different people continuously went through his mind, but he couldn't remember who they were. Who he was.

Finding a bench, a couple feet behind him, he took a seat and pulled out a black leather-bound journal with a pen tucked into the strap that held the pages closed. Flipping through the pages he came upon a blank page and began writing.

He wrote as much as he could, filling up one, two, three pages of information from the museum's exhibit. Some of the sections of the exhibit had pamphlets which he took earlier, now he stuffed them between pages to look over later.

He was on the fourth page when he felt a presence next to him. Glancing up, he peered past the bill of his cap to find a blonde little girl sitting next to him with a large smile on her face that made the multitude of freckles she had to stretch ever so slightly. Her blonde hair reached her past her shoulders and was pulled into twin braids that laid against her shoulders. Blue eyes sparkled as she continued to smile at him, squinting with joy. It was making him uncomfortable to where he shifted slightly away from her before tucking his head back down and went back to writing.

"Are you writing down infamotion about you?"

Glancing back over to the little girl, he saw that she was still staring at him. Her smile had lessened just a little. He didn't say anything and went back to writing.

"Did you forget?"

His eyes widened at that, head snapping up and whipping around to stare at her. What was she talking about? Did she know something? She was just a child. What could she know?

"You're writing in that diary so I thought you forgot stuff," she said, slightly cowering under his gaze, but still kept a small smile on her face. "Isn't that what happened when Capin America found you?"

He remained silent, staring at the little girl before turning his gaze to glance around the room. Captain America was all over the exhibit, which was a given considering it was about him. He took in a small breath before slowly letting it out.

"I'm not sure…"

It was a whispered reply, but the little girl heard it and her face lit up instantly.

"I knew you were Bucky Barnes!" she said in an excited whisper. "Don't worry I won't let anyone know you're here." She gave him a stern adorable look that only young children could make when trying to act serious. He couldn't help but feel the corners of his mouth twitch up. The smile was back on her face, brighter and bigger. "I'm Annabeth!" she said, holding out a hand.

The man stared at the tiny thing, debating on what to do. His right hand lifted slightly before falling back to his side. Annabeth was smiling still smiling brightly up at him.

"That's okay! Mommy says sometimes you have to give people space if they are uncomferble." She lowered her hand and smoothed out her purple sun dress. "You're not comferble are you? Is it because you don't rememmer?"

"...yeah."

"I'm sorry…" Annabeth whispered, lowering her head. It was silent between them for only a short minute before she snapped her head back up at him. "You're my favorite Avenger!" she stated bluntly, smiling as bright as ever. She held up a light brown bear wearing a black mask and a red and blue outfit. He didn't even see that when she sat next to him which surprised him considering the bright colors on it. It was hard to miss. "I even have a Bucky Bear! I just got him and he goes everywhere with me! Isn't he cute?"

He stared at the bear, it's white eyes staring blankly back at him. The bear looked new, but also looked to be slightly worn out due to the fact - as Annabeth said - he travels everywhere with her. Seeing the bear created this weird feeling in his heart that he couldn't quite place. All he could do was smile ever so slightly, just the corners of his lips.

That smile faded.

He could see another blonde holding the exact same bear in her arms. Curled up in bed as he slipped into the dark room, removing his gear before climbing into bed. Pulling her to him and holding her like she was his own Bucky Bear. His rock. His comfort. HIs life line.

Closing his eyes, he shook his head before glancing at the now frowning little girl.

"Are you okay?" she asked, her eyes scanning his face as he stared down at the journal in his lap. She gasped. "Did you rememmer somefing?"

He paused, thinking it over. Was it a memory or was his mind just playing tricks on him? "I'm not sure…"

"That's okay!" Annabeth stated, the bright smile - once again - back on her face. "You'll rememmer soon. I'm sure of it!"

There was something about this little girl that made him feel hopeful. That, yes, he would remember everything soon. That there was a light at the end of this pitch-black tunnel he was trying to escape out of.

He pursed his lips before looking up at her, a small, hopeful smile playing on his lips. "Would you um...would you like to um help me remember?" he asked, lifting his journal up ever so slightly. "I could use some help…" He couldn't help, but let out a chuckle at Annabeth's face as it lit up the brightest it had been since she first sat down.

 **Hi, everyone! I am again sorry for the delay in updates. Summer has been busy. I've been helping my parents move stuff into their beach house, I've been taking summer classes, and then packing and moving out of my apartment has been really keeping me busy. But I am back and I have finally finished this chapter.**

 **It took me a while to figure it out. I had one idea then I changed it and kept repeating this process. It wasn't until my friend em3kitty sent me a Bucky Barnes oneshot that gave me an idea on how to let this chapter play out. I never got around to reading the oneshot, just the summary, and it gave me inspiration for this.**

 **I know this is my shortest chapter (probably in the whole series) but I liked how it turned out. I was originally going to continue with a different part that was about Tracey, but I thought ending it the way it did was the best ending. But I have to thank Just a Little Birdy for looking over the beginning portion of this chapter and helping me figure out the tone and direction of this chapter!**

 **I'm really excited about this chapter, it might be one of my favorites, just because I got to play around with writing details more than dialogue. I like playing around with what's going on through Bucky's head when he's in his wandering around like a hobo phase. I also came up with the idea to throw in Annabeth. I remember seeing a commentary from either Chris Evans or the Russo brothers about kids being able to pick out Steve when he visited the museum because they are small and can see past the disguise he wears unlike adults who just walk past him without a second glance. I wanted to play around with that as well and bring in Annabeth. Plus, if you recognize the name you might get the reference I made with her. Let me know if you caught it!**

 **I hope you enjoyed the chapter. I'd love to hear your thoughts and would love any feedback you might have!**


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13**

It had become routine these days for the group to congregate at Sam's apartment. At first the brown skinned man was annoyed when Wanda and Pietro started appearing at his door, the dark-haired woman offering a sweet smile while her brother gave a cheeky grin. After a while Sam had given up trying to kick them out (mostly kick out Pietro after the speedster got on his last nerves) and just left the door unlocked for them. It became the norm.

It was Monday which meant it was the start of a new week. A new week where nothing was happening besides Pietro flipping through channels in Sam's living room. The sounds of voices starting and abruptly stopping were filling the silent room. Wanda was in the kitchen making coffee and Tracey was sitting, curled up in one of the arm chairs, with a bored expression on her face as she watched Pietro continue his channel surfing.

"Are you ever going to pick something to watch, Piet?" Wanda called out as she walked over to sit on the couch with him, a steaming cup of coffee in her hand. She blew on it before taking a sip, relishing in the taste of the drink. "You've been looking for something to watch for an hour now. I think Tracey would appreciate it if you picked something."

"Oh, she's fine," Pietro said, waving his hand dismissively without taking his eyes off the screen.

Wanda glared at her brother. Raising her hand she shot a tiny wisp of energy at the side of his head causing him to cry out in pain. The white haired man whipped his head around to glare at his sister, who only glared more at him. With a nod of her head she gestured to Tracey who was staring at the ground in front of her.

"Yes, uh," Pietro said, clearing his throat. "Is there anything you'd like to watch Tracey?"

"Hm?" the blonde hacker hummed, glancing up at the speedster. "Oh no, keep doing what you're doing, Pietro."

The twins watched as their friend glanced out the window now, her face set in a hard expression as she chewed her cheek. Wanda and Pietro shared a look for a brief moment before turning back to the woman.

"Tracey, are you okay?" Wanda spoke up gently.

"Yeah," Tracey said, turning her attention to Wanda. "I'm fine."

Pietro scoffed and shook his head. " _Rahat_ ," he said, earning another glare from his younger sister. He stuck his tongue out in response.

"Trace," Wanda began again, turning back to the blonde, "you're not okay."

The hacker smiled lightly with a small laugh. She looked up at the younger woman. "Are you saying that as a friend or because you can feel what I feel?"

"Both." The superpowered girl placed her tea on the coffee table in front of her before turning her body to face Tracey. "You know this isn't your fault right?"

"I know," she replied, her gaze downcasting. "But I can't help but feel that I could have done something more to prevent it."

"You couldn't have. None of us could have," Wanda said gently, her eyes growing sympathetic as she stared at her friend. "No one saw this coming."

She couldn't help but think back to the day she and Tracey first spoke after Sokovia. She had been sitting at Pietro's bedside for a week, never leaving, before the blonde had approached her and took a seat next to her without a word. That conversation had changed her that day. Before she had questioned if she and her brother were on the wrong side and after talking with Tracey she knew it to be true. She was grateful for the blonde and grateful for everyone else to allow her and Pietro to join the team. It was only a few months ago, but so much has changed for them since then.

"What happened to Bucky couldn't have been helped," she began again. "You are doing all that you can to help him. Maybe we won't find him soon, but I know we will. One day."

"But that's what scares me," Tracey whispered, pulling her knees up to her chest. "What if we don't find him? What if he doesn't want to be found?"

"He showed up the first time it happened didn't he?" Pietro asked. "From what I heard from Steve, Bucky had shown up at his apartment. That's when you first met him, no?"

Tracey gave a sad smile as she stared across the room, remembering that night at Steve's apartment. Bucky had practically been a trapped animal with the way he acted. He was so scared and afraid to touch anyone or anything.

"Yeah...it was when I first met him," she spoke. "Steve was so relieved to have him back and I just kind of stood there off to the side not knowing what to do. I still feel like that sometimes."

"I still feel like that myself," Wanda said, offering a smile to her friend.

"All of us feel like that. No one knows what they are doing at times," Pietro said, pulling his legs up onto the couch to sit criss-cross. "Why do you think so many of us put on brave faces before missions? I always worry that I will make one wrong move and it will be the last thing I do…" He shuddered, thinking back to the incident with Ultron. He looked over at Tracey. "No one will blame you for giving up."

"I won't give up," Tracey stated, her face growing hard. "He's out there somewhere and he's scared."

"I know," Wanda said, standing up and kneeling at the foot of Tracey's chair. "I think of him out there by himself as well. We all do. But sometimes you have to take a break. Take a moment to collect yourself and forget everything. It's hard, but it helps." She placed a hand on Tracey's knee, giving it a squeeze of encouragement. "Steve, Natasha, Clint, even Sam have done everything to look for him. Maybe we need to take a step back and think of what's around us first before jumping back into it."

"We know what it's like to not have control when it comes to HYDRA," Pietro spoke up. "We understand Bucky's fear and wanting to hide. At some points, Wanda and I wanted to go into hiding. We wanted to back out of the enhancement program. But we pushed forward and realized our mistakes when it was too late. Bucky will get his memories back and he will come back to us. I know it."

"We are all here for each other and we are here for you, Tracey," Wanda continued. "Pietro and I are here for you and we will do everything we can to help."

Tracey stared at the two, tears welling up in her eyes. She was exhausted and had constantly felt like she was losing hope. If it wasn't for her friends and family she wasn't sure how long she'd last. "Thank you," she whispered, smiling down at Wanda and over to Pietro. "Thank you for being here."

ooOOoo

Running the brush over the canvas, she sighed as she watched the image take shape. Glancing out the window she could see fat snowflakes falling fast down onto the street. It was early December and snow was blanketing all of New York City, creating a "winter wonderland" for the citizens. At least for those who enjoyed it. Seeing as Sam's apartment didn't have a fireplace like the Compound or the Tower the next best thing was the heater, which was humming through the small apartment. It kept the cold at bay, but every now and then the blonde woman would feel a sudden chill go through her spine.

This time of year only made Tracey miserable. The holidays were meant for spending time with family and either her family was in another state, not speaking, or missing. The cold also made her think of Bucky, remembering how he hated the cold. How he'd always be bundled up in layers even when inside. The soldier hated the cold due to the memories of his time in cryo. The snow made Tracey think of where Bucky might be and what he was doing, something she was trying to keep from thinking about to take a break from searching. But no matter how many times she tried to distract herself with painting or reading her mind would end up thinking of him.

The sound of the doorknob turning and the door opening brought the woman out of her thoughts. Slowly walking in was Steve, a solemn expression on his face.

"Hey," she called out, her voice carrying through the room. She took note of the sour look, one growing on her face as she set the brush down. "You didn't find him," she said more as a statement than a question. She knew that look; she knew exactly what he was here to tell her.

Steve shook his head. "No. What about you? Anything on your end?"

Tracey shook her head as well. "Nothing," she said, standing up from her seat and heading towards the kitchen. It was nice to finally be able to walk around without her crutches. She was relieved when the cast was taken off a week ago. It made moving around too difficult, especially for simple tasks! At the sink, filling up a glass, she stared out the window that stood above it. "I'm beginning to think we won't find him. It's like Nat said: He's trained, he doesn't want to be found and that's how it will stay."

"You don't know that, Tracey," Steve spoke out, walking up to her. "We'll find him. He can't hide forever. You told me it looked like he was remembering something when he attacked you. He has to be remembering more just like he did the first time he was recovering." He placed a hand on the blonde's shoulder, giving her a hard look. "He'll remember and if we don't find him, he'll come to us when he's ready."

Tracey sighed, placing the glass on the sink before placing her hands on the edge of the counter. She leaned forward, holding her head down. "I just hope he's okay."

The super soldier remained silent for a moment before taking a breath. "Me too…" He stood straighter, staring out the window the hacker had been staring out a moment ago before patting her back. "Come on, Sharon's outside waiting for us."

"Where are we going?" she asked, looking up at the captain with an inquisitive look.

"Well first off, we're taking you out to lunch," he said with a small smile as he walked out the door. "And second, we're grabbing you some equipment from the tower."

"Equipment?" Tracey echoed as she quickly grabbed her phone and keys. She shoved them into her purse after hastily locking up and turned to Steve, doing her best to keep up with his long strides. "What equipment?"

"Your things from the tower," he answered as they walked side by side. "It'd be a lot easier to have them in one place than to keep traveling back and forth." He gave her a cheeky grin. "Sam said he heard you complaining the other day about forgetting your tablet."

"Oh please," the hacker scoffed as they reached the car, "he was complaining about being out of milk thanks to Pietro yesterday. He has no right to call me out on my complaining."

A chuckle came from the blond man. "Oh yeah, the twins hang out here. You've stolen my best recruits, you know."

"Ha!" she laughed, as Sharon honked the horn. "You better be careful. I might just start my own team."

The soldier hopped into the passenger seat and Tracey followed, climbing into the back. She smiled at the other blonde in the front seat, who greeted her with a "Hey" and a smile of her own. Tracey turned her head to stare out the window as she listened to Sharon talk as she drove them to the tower. She had to admit she was grateful for these two. With them and the other three around she was able to have some sort of distraction from everything to do with Bucky. She could only imagine Steve felt the same.

ooOOoo

Looking up at the Avengers tower made Tracey's heart pound in her chest. She knew her brother was there, along with Tony. The last time she was here it didn't end well with those two. Just a screaming match. Especially with Barry. She hadn't spoken to her twin in the several months since she was there last. It was her own choice. He did call every once in awhile leaving a voicemail asking her to come back to the tower, but she never listened. After the first two voicemails being basically the same thing she just didn't bother listening anymore, rather she just deleted them. She didn't want to listen to what her brother had to say about Bucky. She knew he was just worried about her, but he was being extreme to the point he drove her away. He knew Bucky and yet he thought that he was purposely hurting her. No matter how many times she had told him he was confused her twin didn't listen. He just yelled at her that she should stop looking for him.

A hand on her back brought her out of her thoughts. Steve was behind her, giving her a look of encouragement. She smiled back, returning the favor. She knew things were a little tense between him and Tony as much as there was tension with her and Barry.

"Come on, slow pokes," Sharon teased as she walked past the two, offering them a smirk. "I'm a little hungry. Let's get what we need and head to lunch."

Tracey laughed, shaking her head at her friend. "Yeah, I'm a little hungry too. How about pizza?"

"That actually sounds pretty go-" Sharon began, but was cut off by shouting.

"Ms. Madison! Captain Rogers!" a voice called out.

Tracey groaned, stopping just outside the door of the tower. She knew that voice all too well. The voice that was always on at noon during her segment. The voice of the woman who always needed to find something on the Avengers to make a scoop or a scandal. She wondered what it was going to be this time. Although, after all the events that happened three months ago she could only guess.

The blonde woman looked to Steve and Sharon, both wearing the same irritated expression she had on her face. They really didn't have much of a choice. Well they did, they could have ignored her if they wanted to, but that would only lead to the reporter coming up with her own story or theories. Lori King would have her story no matter how she got the information.

"Captain Rogers! Can we get a comment on the recent activity that was caused by your teammate and best friend, Bucky Barnes?"

"No comment," Steve answered with a snap before turning on his heel.

"And you, Ms. Madison?" the reporter asked, immediately turning her mic towards the blonde.

The hacker tried her best to hide her face. She didn't want to be on camera. She didn't want to be accused of something or another. But as always, Lori King was persistent.

"Ms. Madison, is it true that your fiance, Bucky Barnes, attacked you and left you nearly dead before running away? Onlookers that day say they saw him beating you right after attacking a building near by, where you and Mrs. Stark were seen, before running away from the authorities. Is it true?" She held out her mic, waiting for a response from the woman. When she didn't get a reply, she brought the mic back to herself. "What are your thoughts?" The mic was back in Tracey's face.

Tracey stared at her, her hands clenched at her side. She could punch this woman. She didn't know the story. She only saw half of the story. The side of the story that made Bucky look bad, look like a monster in the eyes of witnesses. What's worse was the video footage of Bucky attacking her that the witnesses saw. It didn't help Bucky's case, but either way it didn't mean he was a monster as everyone was lately thinking. No. No matter how much she wanted to hit Lori King she resisted .Instead she just turned towards Sharon and Steve and started heading into the tower.

"Ms. Madison!" Lori King yelled after her. "How do you feel knowing that Bucky Barnes might have betrayed you? Is it true he was always an agent for the Nazi organisation HYDRA?" Tracey stopped in her tracks and, realising she had caught her, Lori continued. "There are rumours that you are still searching for him. Surely, after being used and almost killed by this man - _days_ before your wedding - you can't still claim to love him?"

Tracey felt her heart sink to the pit of her stomach hearing those words. She knew that Bucky ran away with only a few days before their wedding. Hell, it was supposed to be a week ago! She knew that at this point it wasn't going to happen. At least not until they found Bucky. Even then she didn't know if it would happen. But the fact that Lori King said it out loud - and the way she said it - hurt. It was like it finally sank in. It finally registered that the man she loved was gone and she didn't know when he was going to be found. And here was Lori King using this little bit of information - and some made up theories that people were coming up with about him being a double agent - to turn it into a story showing Bucky as a monster!

Tracey turned on her heel, eyes glaring at the reporter and a snarl forming on her face. "Fuck you, Lori."

As quickly as she turned to face the woman she turned back around and stormed into the tower.

ooOOoo

He sat hunched over the counter, baseball cap pulled over his face. His eyes were scanning the area, watching everyone's movements. He was on edge; wasn't sure if any of these people in this diner were to be trusted. These days he could never tell, which made him always on guard and prepared to strike if need be. His hands were always twitching at his sides or in his pockets no matter where he was.

He watched as one by one, people came and went. Watched as men in suits holding briefcases sat in booths or at the counter after a long day at work; mothers corralling their children into seats to try and order something, exhaustion clear on their faces. He watched everyone, scanning faces and memorizing them, wondering if any or every single person in the diner was out to get him.

"Ms. Madison! Captain Rogers!"

His head whipped around at the sound of a woman calling out those names. Those names played at the back of his mind. Something tugged at him, trying to remind him of someone, or some people. He wasn't sure.

As the woman's voice continued, he shifted his gaze up to the TV that was mounted on the corner of the wall next to him. On the screen was a woman with blonde hair that had been bleached too many times and - judging by the lack of wrinkles on her forehead even when she moved her eyebrows - a good bit of botox. That was the norm for Hollywood and media.

He was about to turn his gaze away from the TV when a blond man and woman appeared on screen. At the sight of them he went frigid - shoulders stiff and jaw clenched. He recognized them, he knew them. He just couldn't think of who they were. It was driving him nuts.

"Fuck you, Lori."

His eyes were fixed on the blonde woman. The camera was focused in on her face and she was clearly uncomfortable from her tight jaw and the tears that were welling up in her eyes. Her brow was furrowed and she was practically glaring daggers into the reporter.

She was on the screen for only a moment before she stormed through the doors behind her, but it was long enough for him to feel some sort of stabbing pain in his chest. He tried to ignore it, but it was a nagging feeling he couldn't seem to get rid of. Tucking his head down, he turned away from the TV, doing his best to ignore the ramblings from the female reporter.

"I cannot believe she just said that on live TV!"

The sound a shrill voice drew his and other dining patrons to a woman sitting in a booth with three children. Her thin eyebrows were knitted together and her lips were pressed into a thin line. To say she looked please would be a complete lle.

"That Madison woman needs to learn some manners," she continued, glaring at the TV. "There are children watching this? Just because she's some sort of 'hero' doesn't mean she gets to say whatever she wants." She glanced around the diner at others, looking for some sort of agreement from them. Some of the patrons turned their heads away, either not wanting to get involved or not caring what the woman said, and others just staring at her waiting to see what else she had to say.

"You have got to be kidding me!"

Heads turned to the counter and he tucked his head further into himself before glancing to his right. Behind the counter in the given waitress uniform of a red apron and yellow dress was a teenage girl. Her hands were planted firmly on her hips and she was glaring daggers at the woman across the diner.

"Excuse me?" the mother shouted, looking every bit offended and angered at the teen.

"How can you say that about her? You don't know how she's feeling!" the teenager argued. "Her fiance is missing; her wedding is canceled. How would you feel knowing that the man you love is out there somewhere and you have no clue where? I'd hope you'd be angry at someone shoving a microphone in your face asking you all sorts of questions!"

"You don't have any right to talk to me like that, young lady!" the woman shouted, pointing a finger at the teenage girl.

"What's the difference between what I'm saying to you and what you're saying about her?" the girl argued, slamming her tray down onto the counter. "You don't know what she's going through and it's not like anyone else is agreeing with you or even wants to hear what you're saying."

"Where's your manager?" the woman practically screeched, standing up from her table and marching up to the counter.

The man hunched further into himself and leaned away from the raging woman. He tuned out the conversation from the teen and woman once the manager came out from the back. It wasn't any of his business and it was like the teenager said: He didn't want to hear what the woman had to say. He didn't care what any of them said. If it didn't concern him, he didn't care.

He glanced back up at the TV, watching as they showed clips of the blonde woman and...himself? His brow furrowed as he continued to watch the clips, the voices and sounds from the diner and the reporter on the TV soon were drowned out. Watching the blonde woman he couldn't help but feel a familiarity with her and seeing him in those clips with her only furthered to confuse him.

He sighed, running a hand down his face. He needed to get out of here, away from that woman on the TV, whose face danced in his mind like something recently forgotten. And away from the rising argument in this diner, which was drawing far too much attention towards the counter than he liked.

"Excuse me?" a voice said in front of him, and he dragged his eyes away from the TV to the waitress that had addressed him; the teenage girl who had started the whole argument before, he recognised instantly; _Tessa_ , her name badge read. She was holding a plastic takeaway box, which she set down on the counter between them.

"I thought you might be hungry," she hurried to explain. "You looked hungry. It's on the house, anyway."

"Thankyou," he ground out after a long moment of silence - there was a look in her eye, some secretive glint that made him feel like she knew more than she was letting on. Either way, she was a brave girl. He didn't want to hurt her.

He needed to leave.

She stood there awkwardly for a moment, and then reached for a cloth with which to wipe the counter. "You look like you're going on a trip," she said conversationally as she worked, her eyes finally falling away from him. "Leaving New York for a while?"

He grunted in reply, and stared down into the coffee cup he'd been nursing for a while now. There was only a little left now, and it had long since gone cold - he was supposed to leave long ago. He was glued to the chair though, reticent to get up and walk away (though he couldn't fathom _why_ ).

"Thought so," the girl said, just a little smug. "It's always good to have one last taste of New York before you go. Best food in the world, in my opinion. Though I've always lived here, so I might be biased." She fell silent for a moment but he had nothing to say in return, so she forged on ahead. "Anyway, I love this city. No matter where I go, I always end up back here." She stopped and looked up at him again, eyes piercing, judging. "I think you might end up back here too, one day, don't you?"

His head shot up, watching her with a mixture of confusion and wariness, but she just winked at him and then turned and walked away, disappearing into the kitchen. He stared at the door she had walked through for a long minute, wondering if she knew who he was, more than he did - wondering why it gave him comfort that she had told him he would come back to New York one day.

His face flashed up on the TV once more, and finally he felt so exposed that he got up to leave, abandoning the cold coffee and taking the food the girl had brought him. She was right, he was hungry - he had only come in to sit for a minute, to rest a moment before what would be a long journey, and he hadn't meant to stay long enough to eat. He would enjoy it later, when he was safely out of New York and on his way to somewhere safe, where people wouldn't come looking for him and his face wouldn't flash across the TV every few minutes. When he was somewhere he could sit down and figure out who he was and what he was supposed to do.

As Tracey's face flashed across the TV once more, flushed and angry and terribly sad, Bucky Barnes walked out of New York, seen only by one pair of eyes. Behind him, his coffee in her hands, the waitress Tessa watched him go, and wondered what would happen next.

 **Rahat - bullshit (Romanian)**

 **And that's the final chapter for this story! I am really sorry it took so long to actually publish. I had majority of it written except for the final scene with Bucky, but I kept losing inspiration to write this story that I ended up writing for other stories. It's also because I became so busy with an internship for my final class, graduating from college back in December, finding a job, and then starting an online business. Life has been hectic.**

 **As of right now because I have struggled with writing in general I'm taking a hiatus from this website. I'll be trying to write the Civil War story for the series, but I can't guarantee if/when it will be published. I will be working with my friend swiftly-heart (tumblr)/Just A Little Birdy who is the one who helped me finish the final scene of the chapter and one of the betas/friends who helped fix any errors or things that needed to be fixed in this chapter. She and I will be working on the Civil War story just for the fun of it. Again I don't know if I'll even post it. If people want me to post it I will, but I won't guarantee consistent updates. I just graduated and I am super busy with many other things from work to just about everything in between.**

 **To anyone who is still reading this story, I hope you enjoyed this last chapter and I hope to hear from you at some point. Thank you for sticking with me through this series and we will see where this goes from here on out.**

 **Also I saw Infinity War on opening night (which is what pushed me to finish this chapter/have my friend help me finish this chapter) and I have so many emotions running through me. No spoilers in the reviews (if anyone leaves any). But feel free to message me on my tumblr if you want to rant about what happened together.**

 **Thank you all again to all the readers who are left after all this time. Thank you for sticking with me through this series. It means a lot.**


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